Lightning
by this be a dead account
Summary: Sasori undergoes emotional turmoil concerning his college roommate, Orochimaru. Deidara takes it upon himself to cure his new friend. M for implied non-con, language, and mature topics in dialogue. OroSaso and DeiSaso. Alternate Universe.
1. Prologue

Hey! This is Chihiro! :D Yupp, my second fanfic! I'm quite excited about it. ' So, it's an AU with college, rape and other fun stuff! This is just the prologue, not even the first chapter. I'll try to update soon if it's popular enough. Please enjoy!

**Credits: **Written by Chi, but I do not own Naruto or any characters or other stuffs like that. Otherwise, the series would be crack and no one would watch/read it because it was such an eyesore. D; Masashi Kishimoto gets 'em all.

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**Prologue**

Sasori shifted himself uncomfortably on the leather couch, squinting his eyes as he pored through the thick volume concerning Anatomy, scribbling in his cramped writing little notes in the margins. The subject was easy enough, it was just pointless. He wanted to start on his puppets again as soon as possible in the morning, his true reason for coming to this University, known for its impressive detail in the fine arts and sciences.

The redhead massaged his temples wearily, the pencil still clutched loosely in his grasp. He could finish this assignment later… Sighing in resolution, the freshman folded his sheet of notebook paper in between the ancient pages of the tome, clasping the covers together. He uncurled his legs from underneath his body, stretching out stiffly as the chrome clock on the study room wall sprinkled out a tinny little melody, signaling three dreadful hours past midnight. The youth blinked exhaustedly as he surveyed everyone else propped up in the wide rotunda, barely hanging on to their studies with cans of double-shot espresso gripped in their hands. College. Sometimes, Sasori wondered how even his love for art kept him hanging on to this rugged lifestyle.

It was only when he had climbed the stairs to his dorm room level, that sleep dissipated enough for him to recall the ordeal he'd experienced just the night before with his twisted roommate, Orochimaru. The dark, crimson eyes narrowed, a chill shimmying up his arms and down his spine. The puppet-maker could feel his heart throbbing, climbing up his throat and into his mouth. A cold sweat broke out on his forehead.

"_Saso-kun… Have I ever told you how… delicious, you look?"_

_The redhead twisted his face in contempt. "What the hell are you saying, Orochimaru?" He was immensely irked by his roommate's interruption. He needed to study for the idiotic Anthropology exam looming up later that afternoon, and the snake-like male was not helping him concentrate._

"_Now, now, careful with your language." Abruptly, the paler of the two was immediately behind the redhead with no noise betrayed at all, and cold, pallid hands were cupped lightly under his chin. Sasori stiffened, a disturbing feeling claiming his nerves. Suddenly, he felt a warm wetness behind his left ear, and a mixture of disgust and alarm sounded in his mind._

_Swiveling about, he glared his assailant fiercely, slapping Orochimaru away with the back of a hand. "What the hell?" He repeated, bristling at the injustice. Undaunted, the elder male shamelessly snapped out a spindly hand, seizing Sasori's face tighter and assertively pressed his lips firmly against his victim's._

_Horrified, the redhead struggled in his roommate's grip, unable to swat his attacker off. He writhed in the sickening hold, fury and aversion glowing, muted, in his scarlet eyes._

_Satisfied, Orochimaru finally pulled away from the forced kiss. "You do taste wonderful, Saso-kun." He grinned darkly, a hungry, sick look in his coal-black eyes. Thoroughly disgusted, Sasori slammed his books shut, the table moaning as the extra weight was applied. He roughly wiped his lips off with the sleeve of his black sweater, burning with humiliation and revolt. "What do you think you're doing?" He snarled, fury broiling in his crimson orbs. But for a moment, as he glowered up at his roommate, a flicker of fear dashed through his expression as he studied his attacker. To his dismay, the dread had not gone unnoticed by Orochimaru, who grinned evilly at the hint of vulnerability._

"_Oh, you're scared of me, Saso-kun?" He purred in delight, reaching out a ghostly claw again. Repulsed, the younger boy grimaced as he spun around and bolted for the doorway, studies forgotten as he leapt out of the tiny room and into the hall, running to the port next to his own. He pounded furiously at Hidan and Kakuzu's room._

_The albino was at the door soon, grumpily wrenching the door open after a series of panicked knocks. "The fuck you want, Red?" Hidan snarled, though a shocked look replaced the one of enragement after he noticed the wild, hunted appearance of his classmate. He admitted the artist quickly, Kakuzu looking up from the needle he was currently threading at his desk. The two older students raised their eyebrows at Sasori's hectic state as he leaned heavily against the interior of the door, eyes flitting downward in a skittish manner. The whole time, he was feverishly ramming his knuckles into his lips, his other hand shaking slightly against the wood of the door._

Since that occurrence with Orochimaru, Sasori had nervously avoided him all the rest of the day, only retrieving his books for classes when he knew that the pale student would be off elsewhere, terrorizing the remainder of campus with his idiot cronies. Hopefully, he would already be asleep at this hour… But as trembling, cold fingers faltered towards the rusted doorknob, the redhead could see a desk light seeping through the crack under the port. He shivered again, remembering the warm lick of Orochimaru's foul tongue on his mouth. His palm shook against the metal, but he clenched his palm, and quietly twisted the brass and shoved it inward.

He hesitantly peered in, seeing his roommate perched studiously at his desk, filling in a blank sheet of notebook paper. It wasn't good as being asleep, but at least there'd been no reaction when Sasori had entered the room. He released a silent sigh of relief at only facing the black curtain of long hair, and not the wraithlike, purple-rimmed orbs.

Choosing to ignore Orochimaru and pray that he would in turn be ignored as well, Sasori noiselessly slid his Anatomy book on his own desk, and mutely walked over the thin carpeting, quickly slipping out of only his college sweater, deciding to keep on the white T-shirt and black jeans underneath. He could hear a small rustling of thick fabric, and thought, with relief that his roommate was finally retiring to his bed, too. Sasori held the pullover draped on his arm for a moment, pausing as he waited for the creak of old springs under Orochimaru's weight on the bed. Wondering if he had missed the assuring sound, he swirled around, nervously casting a glance at his the snake-boy's lit table. To his shock, the red swivel chair was empty, the seat facing towards his direction, still squeaking lightly. Terror seized his body as the redhead felt a chilling grip on his shoulder, nails digging into his flesh possessively.

"Saso-kun…" The freezing, silken voice rumbled. The shorter male felt himself being wheeled around, and he lost his balance as he was spun about to face his roommate. His breathing stopped as he felt a long, spidery arm curl over his back, his spine bending in an arch. His wide, red eyes stared up at the hard black ones, which glared ominously back, as if famished. Sasori tore his look away, instead seeing the door, noticing a comforter cloth stuffed under the door crack, rendering the room entirely soundproof. His throat constricted in horror, but before he could further move, his knees buckled under Orochimaru's and his own weight, choking in surprise as he collapsed onto his own bed. Another gasp tore through his lungs, as his arms were dragged up roughly from his sides, and thrust to the wall.

The boy struggled desperately, his limbs tensing as he strained to throw off Orochimaru's greater weight. However, he was physically weaker than the paler male, and could only thrash in a panic, eyes clenched against his tormenter's. Eventually though, he lost his energy and heaved great breaths, opening his lids enough to glare hatefully at the elder student.

Orochimaru smirked in gloating victory, basking in his power. "There, Saso-kun, that didn't take you so long to understand the rules, did it?"

The redhead gritted his teeth, livid at the shame he was being forced through. He reeled again, trying in vain to tug his hands free, true fear boiling in his stomach as the black-haired man brought his lips close to Sasori's head. A shot of scorching, sparking odium flooded down his entire body, and he gave one last little squirm of rebellion, seething deeply.

"Listen closely, Sasori-kun. No one knows about this, or I'll hurt you and them. Don't try to transfer schools, buildings or even rooms. This is our little _secret._ You see, ever since you walked into this room, you've belonged to me. That won't ever change, Sasori, and remember that. If I ever find out that anyone else knows, I promise I won't hesitate to kill you, since you're mine." Orochimaru breathed threateningly into his ear, an ill honey covering the tainted words. He smiled coldly, triumph playing a fanfare across his face as he took in his prey's face of outrage, confusion and ailed dread.

With his speech done, the pale snake-like man leered as he leaned forward, crushing his victim entirely, and malice clear in his entire movement. Sasori fought back limply, hopelessness clouding his eyes as he realized Orochimaru's sick motives.

But no one could hear his screams of agony, and no one came rushing forward to rescue him from his fate. So he lay there, being slowly defeated and unable to retaliate, being made Orochimaru's own trophy. And when the pain finally subsided, he could not feel anything, and was entirely numb. His eyes were still large with horror of the torture he had been forced through, the former Sasori, brave, tough and impenetrable rendered a mere puppet, like the ones he so adored. It was then, that Orochimaru took his classmate's frail self, and broke it savagely, splinters of the boy ricocheting off walls. He shattered the redhead's mind, his emotions, his very soul. And it seemed as if nothing could ever piece him back together, for the damage was too deep and too late to prevent.

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Yes. Uhm. I've never done AU before, so please tell me how badly I sucked. Flames are accepted if absolutely nessecary. Thanks you. -shuffles away in shame-


	2. Garden

Chihiro again! Thanks for all the lovely reviews!! I swear, it's people like you who keep me going sometimes. ;D Thanks so much! Well, I finally have the first chappie out! Please review again! '

**Credits:** If I owned Naruto, the world would be on fire and people would be gouging out their eyes. But I wish I owned it. ;3

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**Chapter One**

"And this is where you'll be staying!" The tour guide finished happily, waving a palm at the building.

Deidara lifted an eyebrow in question. "Red Dawn, hm?" He read the plaque above the door in wonder. What an outlandish name. "Okay, well, thanks for showing me around, un."

The black-haired guide adjusted the odd mask propped on his face. "Ah, Tobi's your roommate! Me!"

The blonde struggled to retain a heaved sigh. Fun. He'd already thought this curious, bouncy classmate was strange, what with his hyperactive attitude and orange mask. And now he had to live with him for the rest of the year?

_'I should've just stayed at Iwa University…'_ He thought bitterly, though knew that soon, this little idiot would be the least of his concern. He had eagerly sent in his application for the school transfer as soon as his family had dragged themselves out of poverty, and were able to afford a formidable art school, and Deidara wasn't going to let a peppy roommate ruin his new education here.

"Come on!" Tobi screeched excitedly, grabbing a suitcase and the blonde's elbow, tugging him to the dorm. "I'll show you all my friends!"

The sculptor rolled his eyes wearily, allowing himself to be dragged off. To his surprise, once he entered the lobby of the building, he was greeted by a friendly setting. No druggees slouched over the benches, chewing at cigarettes; only a pockmarked cork board, various flyers and announcements peppering the soft surface. Deidara allowed a crooked smile to quirk his lips. It had been a good idea to transfer from his old local ghetto school, then… He shrugged a duffle bag higher on his shoulder, following an impatiently waving Tobi into the simplistic, but gum-free elevator.

As the contraption bucked and slowly ascended, the light blue eyes flickered at the red dots which blinked upwards, signaling that they were approaching the fourth floor. When a small hum announced the elevator's destination, the doors lurched open, and Tobi giddily bounded out, somehow radiating ecstasy, even though his entire face was obscured. "See, Deidara-sempai," he pointed, gesturing immediately to the first door on his right. "This is where Leader-sama—well, his name's actually Pein—and Zetsu live."

'Leader'? The blonde blinked slowly. Were they some sort of mafia? Or was Tobi just inferior to most everyone?

The black-haired boy moved on quickly, walking towards the door besides Pein's and Zetsu's. "This is our room," he informed Deidara cheerily, thrusting the knob in, and then unceremoniously snatching the duffel bag from his new classmate's shoulder, tossing both pieces of luggage rudely into the room. The blue eyes winced as a loud crash thundered out, the result of his bags colliding with furniture of some sort. "Unpack when I show you my friends!" He implored, the black hole, given for his right eye, begged him to comply.

Deidara groaned inaudibly, face crumpling. "Okay, fine… un." He threw his hands up in defeat, having no choice but to watch Tobi stride to the door across the hall, third from the elevator. "Itachi and Kisame…" Next door to the left. "Kakuzu and Hidan…" He approached the door across from Pein and Zetsu's. "And this is Sasori's room."

"He lives alone like you did?" Deidara asked curiously. He'd understand if this Sasori had requested a separate room from Tobi, wholeheartedly…

"No, no, Deidara-sempai!" The black-haired boy laughed, rubbing the back of his head. "He shares a room with some weird guy. Tobi forgot his name… But we're not the other person's friend, we don't know each other. Sasori hangs out with us mostly."

The blonde wilted against the corridor wall. He'd never remember all these crack names… "Are we going to meet them, then?" That might at least help him realize who he would seemingly be forced to 'hang out' with. As long as they weren't as stupid as his own roommate, he'd be perfectly happy.

"Yeah!" Tobi chanted in reply. "Since it's a Saturday, they're probably all in Pein's room. I just left to give you the tour." The boy pranced energetically to said door, knocking on the barrier, requesting permission to enter. A husky, dark voice rumbled, "Password?"

Tobi wrung his hands in distress. "Hidan-san, you know Tobi doesn't like to say bad words! And you know it's Tobi-kun, anyhow!"

There was a loud scuffle from inside, which sounded somewhat like a violent rogue battle. Finally, a cracked "Shut up, Kakuzu," snarled out in defiance. "This is funny." The voice went back to Tobi. "I'm not letting you in without the password."

The black-haired boy hung his head in misery, beckoning to Deidara, who cautiously edged closer. "Can you say the password? It's the bad 'F' word, then butt."

The blonde peered out of his visible eye questioningly. "Fuckbutt?"

"No!" Tobi wailed, wringing his hands even more. "The _bad_ word for butt!"

"Fuckass, un?" Deidara wondered, dragging a finger through his long, sunny bang. What was up with these people?

Then, Hidan's voice added as an afterthought, "No, wait, you have to say, before 'fuckass', you have to say 'Hidan is a'. Then say the password."

A dull thunk was heard, a loud swear, some raucous laughter, then the door was finally unlocked and wrenched open. "Shut up, Hidan, no one cares." A tall, tan man with lank, black hair stood in the frame, emerald eyes surveying Deidara, who suddenly felt incredibly short. "You're Tobi's new roommate? Deidara?"

The boy could only force out a tentative nod and an accompanying, "Un…"

"Come on, Deidara-sempai!"

Kakuzu stepped back for Tobi and his roommate to enter. The yellow-haired student looked about him. Hidan was surely the one rubbing a sore head, the thunk sound, most likely. As if reading his wondering and spastic mind, Tobi began to introduce everyone sprawled about the room. "So that's Hidan-san and Kakuzu-san, and Leader-sama," a fierce looking man with orange hair and numerous piercing decorating his anatomy, "Zetsu-san," a curious person with green and white color painted on his features or something, "Kisame," an eerily shark-resembling figure who leered at him with great, triangular teeth, "Itachi-sama," a raven headed youth slouched beside Kisame, "and Sasori-san." It was the last one who caught Deidara's attention the most, however, who was, unlike everyone else in the room, sitting by himself, whereas the others were sat beside their roommates.

Sasori was a small figure with hair so red, it looked as if the setting sun dyed it that hue every night. He had pale skin that enunciated his hair yet more, and large, crimson eyes that gazed hesitantly up at the newcomer, framed by long, dark lashes, giving his orbs an almost feminine appearance. But Deidara could not see anymore of Sasori's face, for the boy had his legs curled up to his chin, and buried his nose within his skinny arms.

Despite the redhead's alarmingly attractiveness, the sculptor found his attention drawn most to the look in his eyes. There was something haunted in them, like a portion of him had been broken, and it was in those deep, scarlet mirrors that the pieces had fled from. As Sasori blinked, Deidara detected, mere split seconds before the lids fell, a trace of fear, emblazoned permanently into the opaque orbs.

It was then, that he realized how silent the room had become. Worst of all, everyone had clearly seen how agitatedly the blonde had been studying Sasori, who suddenly had an irked expression on his lips, which he finally revealed as he lifted up his head in annoyance at the intense look he'd been treated to.

Deidara felt a warm tide flush over his features. This was not how he'd envisioned first meeting Tobi's friends…

A raspy, aquatic tone reverberated suddenly, "Sasori-san, see, even the new kid noticed it."

Itachi looked over at his friend who had spoken, agreement clear on his face.

"Noticed what, un?" The transfer student asked awkwardly, glad to shift his eyes to Kisame instead of the smaller boy.

"He's acting all weird and stuff. Everyone can tell."

The redhead scoffed at this, denying in his soft, and yet steely and cold voice. "You're all useless. I just went to sleep at three in the morning is all. Is it so wrong for me to be piss-tired?"

"Being tired isn't all," Itachi sighed, flaming orbs burning into the other set of dark red. Sasori narrowed his eyes. "You pricks are awful analytical today, aren't you?"

Suddenly, with no relevance to the argument taking place, Tobi leapt towards the redhead, arms outstretched. "Sasori-san's grumpy! Does he want a hug?"

"Don't touch me!" He cried out in an unnaturally shrill tone. Deidara stared in shock along with everyone else, as Sasori swiftly rolled backwards, hands curled up into defensive claws.

There was a tense silence that even the blonde could feel, Tobi hanging oddly in the air, barely balanced on one foot; Sasori compacted and edgy on the cot, eyes flashing as if terrified.

In the uncomfortable hush, Kakuzu stated simply and quietly, "We're not that stupid, Sasori." His bright green gaze glared searingly through the redhead.

"Yeah, what the fuck, Red?" Hidan added, combing his fingers through his silken, white hair.

The look on Sasori's face relaxed slightly, though the hunted expression still hung over his eyes. An angry gleam took over his air. "What's it matter to you, anyhow?" Without waiting for any reply, the student got up quickly from Pein's bed, striding roughly past Deidara, who shivered involuntarily as the shorter male exited in an annoyed haste.

The blonde tugged on long bang nervously, glancing sheepishly up at his new classmates. "I… I did that, didn't I, un?" He asked uneasily.

The multi-hued man, Zetsu, blinked his yellow eyes slowly. "No," he assured in a high voice. When he spoke again, it was in a deeper tone, much to Deidara's surprise. "He usually has a short temper, anyhow…"  
Nevertheless, a deep feeling of guilt washed over the newcomer. "I still feel bad though."

The Leader, Pein, leaned against the wall, folding his arms resolutely over his chest. "So go find him. He's probably in the garden. Tobi showed you where that is, right?"

Deidara nodded, about to take his leave. "Thank you, un." Though for the life of him, he wouldn't understand why such a brutal person as Sasori would be in a college flower collection, of all places. As he pulled the door handle inwards and walked into the corridor promptly, he could hear Kisame's gravelly speech. "Is it really wise to let a newbie out there by himself? With Sasori?" Though he missed Pein's reply, Deidara did not gain any confidence from Kisame's frets.

**--xoxoxo—**

He looked about himself blearily. Tobi had only showed him the garden's entrance, but as he proceeded to trudge onwards, he could not believe the ridiculous size of the place. It had to be at least five acres across… And it wasn't even guaranteed that the stupid redhead was here. But Deidara honestly felt that he'd instantly caused someone's anger, and he did not believe that he was up to starting his new education with a furious classmate, armed with a grudge against him.

"Sasori?" He called for what seemed like the umpteenth time. Just then, out of the corner of his eye, he glimpsed a flash of red, dimly reflecting the blinding sun. He blinked, performing a double-take, then squinted, making out a mess of dark red hair. Indeed, against all chances, he had found the boy, who was curled up inside of some thorn bush of a type, his body just visible behind the thick, netty foliage. The redhead had his legs tucked up to his chest again and head lowered, and was protectively hugging his knees to himself.

Deidara bit his lip, just realizing how childish and helpless Sasori looked. Would he be able to even approach, much less talk to him? The blue-eyed male shrugged hopelessly, calling again as he approached the thicket. "Sasori! Hey, un. I'm sorry, did I upset you back there?"

With a friendly smile plastered on his face, the blonde ducked under the sprawling branches, swept the attacking twigs out of his face, and bravely crouched in front of the boy, looking kindly at the top of the red hair.

Sasori glanced upward, disgust and annoyance flickering on his lips. "What do you want, brat?" He demanded, completely ignoring Deidara's attempt at tact.

The blonde bristled at the injustice. "Hey, I'm just trying to be nice to you, un!" He sighed as the other boy scowled menacingly, turning the tables with a simple, "Little stalker."

Deidara frowned, not sure whether he wanted to defend his pride, or back out of a huge argument. He chose the latter, exhaling in defeat. "Fine, whatever, I don't care, un. So, uhm, you take any art classes?"

It was horrible topic change, and the blonde knew it, but he didn't bother anymore. Though confusion was plain in the atmosphere, Sasori answered slowly. "Yes… Freelance Art, Woodworking, Carpentry, Theatre and Puppet Work."  
The side of Deidara's lips curled up in a small smile. "Wow… You're a real artist, aren't you? All those courses. I'm doing Freelance too, and Theatre, un… But also Sculpting, Potter and Chemistry."

Sasori frowned at the blonde. "What? Chem's not an art, brat."

Deidara cheekily protruded his tongue. "Is too, un," he fought immaturely. "Because art is a bang, and in college level chemistry, there's a bang every day, un!"

The redhead allowed a tentative grin to twist his mouth. "You're screwed up, Deidara. You just registered for Chemistry because you like the explosions?"

"No, not entirely… It'll help me learn how to make more artful bombs, too."

"You said 'artful bombs', if I heard correctly?"

"Yeah, un. Hey, why do you look like you just saw someone getting dismembered?"

"I'm sorry, I just thought that was the biggest piece of shit I've ever heard of in my life."

"Hey! Why can't art be something colorful, like a bomb, then?"

"Art is eternal. To be able to endure the most difficult obstacle, time, is something to be revered with in respect. It's the strongest, isn't it? Therefore, it's art."  
"Oh, now you're trying to be all smartass, un. Art is fleeting!"

"No, I'm pretty sure it's eternal. Prove to me it's 'fleeting', brat."

Deidara could feel the grin spreading over his face. Though both boys were being completely serious about the argument, he knew that he already wanted to be Sasori's friend, despite their differences on the matter of art. "Alright, I will, un." He beamed, accepting the challenge. Of course, he would win. That was just how art worked.

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I'm sorry that there wasn't that much romance going on at all, it was a bit of a runner-up to start everything. " Yeah, basically now, Dei just admires Sasori and they're slightly warming up to each other, though the yaoi won't start for another few chapters. D: I'm sorry!! Please review though, and give me suggestions as to how I can improve this!


	3. Pinocchio

Here's Chapter two... But I owe you all a HUGE apology. TT.TT You're all so freaking nice, giving me all the reviews and stuff!! :3 I had planned on having this out by Sunday, but I didn't have the time to type it out and everything. D: I'm sorry, this chapter's not going to move very quickly either, I'm trying to build it up. And I do realize that Sasori's acting a bit OC, but I promise it's only for now. He's still traumatized by the whole rape thing. He'll get better eventually! So special thanks to Secret Sheik, my wonderful Beta Reader!! And also to Yin's Crescent, Livefreedieyoung, black55widow, DeiLicious.FriDei, ChaseYoungluvr, xXxFallenXxXAngelsxXx, Hidanluv XD, Dimunda Ice Eagle, Manyara, The Lord's Fallen Angel, Deidara's Model, Kyuuka-Kyuubi, crystalheartlover, Utsuro, Skilled defense, Tweaked-uniquness, sapphirephoenix97, RandomlyCheesey and cherrySUNSETx, for all the beautiful reviews and helpful input and support from the prologue and chapter one! You guys keep me writing!! -tear-

**Credits: **Were I the owner of Naruto, Itachi would've killed Sasuke a long time ago, all of the Akatsuki would fall madly in love with their partner during the funeral, Sakura would be grovelling at Sasori's feet for mercy, and Kankurou would get more screentime.

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**Chapter Two**

Deidara heaved a sigh of relief. He had, by some god-sent miracle, found his way to his Chemistry class. Kami, the place was ridiculously huge. The classroom was set up with the teacher's place up front, and a large assembly of acid-proof student desks arranged randomly before it, set for three at each table. Deidara looked about him, searching for anything reassuring in the vast room. His one visible eye found a mess of flaming red hair at a desk near the back: Sasori, from his dorm building.

The redhead was sitting with a bored expression at his chosen seat beside another freshman, chin propped up in his hands, dark eyes blinking lethargically. "Hey, un," Deidara greeted him in a friendly tone. The shorter one only supplied a halfhearted 'meh' sound in return. Unperturbed, the blond carefully maneuvered his way over to the brunette that was also seated at the table and took his own place on the other side of Sasori. The smaller boy widened his eyes slightly in surprise at Deidara. Before the transfer student could ask what was the matter, a short girl with a pale pallor and long, black hair appeared behind him, coughing softly. "Ah, you're sitting in my seat."

Deidara looked up into her coal black eyes in annoyance. "Great, un. I'm sitting here though." The girl scowled darkly at the blond, tossing her curtain of hair with a soft 'humph'. Sasori cocked his head at the newest classmate. His eyes expressed strange gratitude.

The other boy lifted a blond eyebrow in question. "What?"

"Tsuchi Kin's my… stalker, or something, and now you're in her seat, she can't cling to me—" A louder voice sounded loudly over Sasori's quiet explanation. "Hey, can you move? I can't see the board from any other seat."

The redhead groaned as the student to his left hastily scrambled away. He tiredly put his forehead on his palm, head slightly tilted to face Deidara. His deep red eyes flashed in an irked manner, mouth twisted into a sore grimace. His face dulled when Kin suddenly burst out, "Hey, Sasori-kun!" The boy continued to glare in Deidara's direction, who was then grinning with silent laughter.

Kin coughed impatiently. "Sasori-kun, your hair looks so nice, today…" As she reached out a hand to stroke her prey's head, Deidara's eyes widened as Sasori's narrowed, and the blond instinctively pulled back into his chair, watching as his fellow classmate hissed, ducking away from the girl. "Don't touch me," he growled scathingly. Obviously, he was not one for Public Displays of Affection.

Kin pouted haughtily at her unwilling victim, saying dismally, "Why're you so you so _mean_, Sasori-kun?" But her whining was cut off when the classroom door slammed shut behind a grizzled looking man, the Chemistry professor. Deidara blinked, not wanting to miss his first lesson. But Kami, no one else in his newfound group of friends was nearly that edgy around other people, except maybe that Itachi person.

To his bewildered amazement, when he dared to look back at Sasori, the redhead was coolly sitting with his arms folded over his chest, eyes gazing down at the frantic professor with mild boredom as he attempted to deliver his start-of-the-new-semester speech.

Was the boy absolutely schizophrenic or something? He'd been spastically jittering in his seat just a moment ago; then, as soon as Deidara turned his back, Sasori returned to his careless, emotionless demeanor.

His one visible, azure eye widened in shock as the redhead turned his face to look at him, lifting a thin eyebrow in inquiry to the excessive staring again. Deidara flushed, realizing that Sasori had lost his semi-friendly manner from before, and was looking at him in disdain. The blond felt the dark blush claim his cheeks, and he slunk lower in his seat. He awkwardly sent his attention back to the waving professor, eagerly describing the countless formulas they would be exploring that half-year. For the rest of the excruciatingly long class, Deidara shifted his look back to Sasori occasionally, much relieved to see no more schizophrenic mood swings, although the current emotion was rather hostile.

**--xoxoxo--**

Finally, the professor shut up about his beloved rules and regulations for the new semester, though they were identical to the semester before. Sasori sighed softly, stretching out his arms in front of him. Two and a half long, useless hours. Even when they actually began the lab work, he'd have to put up with Kin, begging him to allow her to assist him in the process of mixing chemicals, as she was a chemistry major, and he was only taking the ridiculous class to put a science course in his record.

The redhead stood up as the class was dismissed, gathering his canvas bag containing all of his books, none of which had been needed for the over-talkative professor's torturous lecture. He reached in the folds of the rough material, trying to retrieve his schedule for the week.  
"You have Theater next, Sasori-kun." Kin supplied gravely, her ebony eyes cast at the tiled floor, hugging her Dalmatian print bag to her bosom sorrowfully. The redhead allowed a sick smirk to twist his small mouth. He loved all of his major classes; Kin hadn't come to this college for its fine arts, therefore, was forced to leave him with breathing space when he went to those precious moments.

Still, how she knew so much about him… He'd never know, nor care to find out, how she knew even his damned schedule. "Thank you," he muttered in a contained voice, walking quickly away from her. When would it finally hit her that he was sick of her stalker-esque presence? Hopefully, it would hurt her hard enough to keep her away permanently…

It was outside of the classroom that he felt a tug on his elbow. Sasori flinched roughly, a chill clenching his stomach as he remembered the ordeal from only two nights past, frigid claws running hungrily over his naked arms, a sick wetness crawling over his bare collarbone. His fists balled up instinctively, pivoting around quickly to face, to his barely stifled relief: only the newest student, Deidara.

"You're going to Theater then, un?"

The scarlet eyes slit, as his heart still throbbed falteringly in his chest. "Yes, I am."

"Could you show me the way? I'm going there next, but Tobi wasn't very clear when he told me where my classes were, un…"  
Sasori surveyed the bold, taller blond carefully. "Don't make me wait though, brat," he replied as a cold answer.

Deidara twitched at the continued nickname from the past weekend, hurrying after the redhead. Apparently, he had a superiority complex as well. The striking blue eye narrowed in slight anger. "It's kind of obvious, but didn't notice before, even if you've been here much longer, I could beat you up any day. I'm much taller, un, and I probably outweigh you by a good deal too, hmm." He retorted, wounded, to the walking boy's back.

"I know," was the simple, flat response.

Deidara rolled his visible eye. He'd teach Sasori what art was in Theater then, and show him who could be superior. That cocky attitude seriously pissed him off, what with his irritatingly short speech and could-care-less half closed eyes that always seemed to mock him, shadowed rose irises finding amusement and annoyance in him. "Stupid, stuck-up little kid," the former Iwa student mumbled darkly under his breath in an inaudible volume, narrowing his eyes in aggravation. Scorpion, was his name? Well, he would take away that bloody stinger and wave it in front of the 'scorpion', laughing as the once-overconfident loser flapped his claws pathetically, pleading for mercy and admitting that Deidara had been right and was most definitely superior. "Teach that smug little kid who was the real brat…" He grumbled quietly.

"Done talking to yourself yet?" The 'brat' tossed the blond another one of his damned cocky little leers. He continued to stride forward, returning his gaze to the front, obviously having fun by incensing his temporary charge.

Deidara scoffed impatiently, scowling at the boy. "Huh, at least I'm not dead scared of people touching me, you—afraid of being touched, un." He finished lamely, not at all having the effect he had intended.

"Aphenphosmphobia?" Sasori supplied, his voice swollen with cockiness.

The blond hissed in loss, trying to regain his footing in the verbal joust. "What, so you actually spend time looking up all these freaking mental phobias, un?" He challenged scathingly, a hint of laughter in his voice.

The redhead shrugged faintly, answering calmly, "Maybe I do have that fear. Along with other fears. But really, who doesn't have a fear at all?" A sick thought flitted through Sasori's mind. '_Virginitiphobia- the fear of rape,'_ he thought wryly, a sneer curling his lip. Again, the scene replayed in his mind. Being spun around, forced to look into Orochimaru's cold, unfeeling eyes. Feeling his knees buckling under him as he gave way under the extra weight, the hard, throbbing as his head collided violently against the wall… Then, the frosty prickling of foreign hands, pushing him into a state of succumbed humiliation, kicking him into shame—

"Hey," Deidara snapped, and Sasori was grateful for the pull away from his blackened memories. "Isn't this the Theater section?" He was boldly poking his guide on the shoulder, gesturing towards the large, dome-like structure before them. The redhead blinked, shivering slightly one last time, nodding slowly. "Yeah, yeah, it is. We're starting a new performance today, so we'll be on the stage."

He sighed inwardly, thin eyebrows furrowed in despair. He couldn't think how to survive anymore… Not when he faced perpetual terror every night he had to journey back to the dormitory, so scared that he would be attacked any second. It was even worse when he was supposed to be asleep. Sasori had taken to dodging to the library, taking on an alibi of studying for courses he claimed to be unusually trying. He didn't dare ask for shelter in a friend's room, that would only arouse suspicion, and of course, Orochimaru would make him suffer. He hadn't seen his roommate in a while, thankfully, only in crowds for breakfast or walking to classes, and Sasori had been careful to duck behind others as to avoid the piercing yellow eyes. He hadn't even been in his own room, only to retrieve the occasional item, which he did as little as possible, when he was sure Orochimaru would be far away from campus. Sasori was turning into an insomniac, losing sleep every night, shifting uncomfortably on the library's scratchy sofas, too terrified to truly close his eyes, always seeing Orochimaru's tall figure framed in the door about to smother him again.

"Sasori, get your ass up here," came a high voice, once again shattering his thoughts. The redhead's crimson eyes flashed warily as he found himself somehow in front of the stage, apparently having incredibly navigated his way to the platform, though he had been so submerged in his fragile thoughts. He blinked in surprise, looking up the planks to face a classmate. He turned around to check if the blond brat had followed him or not. Deidara was standing with his weight on one foot, studying him concernedly, an unmistakable frown of worry on his expression. The redhead grimaced to himself. How plain had his detachment to the world been? In an effort to cover his aloof behavior, he demanded waspishly, "What're you staring at this time, brat?"

The transfer student huffed, the look of concern evaporated completely. "I thought you were comatose, un, and you sleepwalking like the moron you are."

Sasori chuckled dryly. "I don't need your worry, brat. Just hurry up, we need to start as soon as possible."

**--xoxoxo--**

Deidara found himself still sitting by the odd redhead. He'd been fine in Chemistry, but all of a sudden, he'd had another stupid mood swing and was now acting pissy again, for some insane reason.

He uncurled his legs from underneath him, crossing them tightly as he looked at the people cheerily discussing what the new semester's performance should be over. The ideas being tossed back and forth were ludicrous, but he had to admit, they were clever.

"…a parody off of Pinocchio, yeah…"

"…I like that, give the puppeteers a real job this time around, eh, Sasori?"

"Dipshit, he doesn't care about what you say."

"Whatever, guys, shut up and stop arguing. Toshio, no swearing in my class. So what's the story?"

"We decided that Pinocchio is going to fall for the fairy that turns him into a real boy, or something stupid like that."

"No ideas are stupid in this class, Oda. Hey, new kid, Deidara, any input?"

The blond let the bang flop messily in his view, cautiously voicing his thoughts. "Doesn't this seem a little cliché, un? Maybe we should try for something else besides romance. I mean, it can still be there, but we should put a political statement or other in there too, to spice it up a bit in humor, un."

The teacher, a youthful, dark-haired woman called Kurenai-sensei raised her head thoughtfully. "I… like that… You're pretty good, Deidara. So, what do you guys think? What political statement should we include?"

The entire assembly pitched in unison, "Gay rights." As the gathering burst out in laughter at the curious agreement, the blond looked carefully out the corner of his eye at Sasori. As expected, the boy still sat lazily with one leg propped up over the other, chin resting on his knee, fingers tying and untying his shoelaces uninterestedly, twirling the strings over his digits. Deidara sighed softly, before shifting around to face the rest of the class. Of course he wouldn't have supplied any form of public participation…

"So," the drama professor observed, "that clearly tells us that all the people involved in acting are either gay, bi, or support gay rights, hmm? Another artistic stereotype."

The students broke out snickering again, and Deidara felt a grin spread over his thin lips. This class really was fun and involving… Comfortable in the friendly environment, he continued, "So yeah, the fairy would be a guy, and he and Pinocchio fall in love, but Pinocchio's dad doesn't approve of gays, so…"

"So he kills the fairy and mounts him as a puppet as well, thus sapping the life out of Pinocchio, ending the story in a tragic but eternal note."

The entire stage fell silent at Sasori's words. Wide eyes swiveled to gaze at the redhead, still twisting his shoelaces. Small smiles began to appear on faces, as they took in the deep thought. "Depressing and deep as always, Akasuna?" Kurenai-sensei noted, a hint of admiration just traceable in her bright red eyes. But the approval was strong in the atmosphere.

Deidara stared at Sasori again, astounded by the puppeteer's input. However, he couldn't believe the redhead's steadfast devotion to his form of 'art', if that was what it could be named. "Nice idea, but eternity's no way to end any decent play." He commented, readying himself for another argument.

He growled in his throat, as he caught the dark red eyes rolling in exasperation. Sasori's reply was ominous and tired, as if speaking to an idiot toddler. "I'll finish this with you later, brat." He warned, a steely edge to his voice.

Deidara grinned gloatingly. He'd won for the time being, and that was a start. Kurenai then interjected, unaware of the triumph that she was cutting short for her newest pupil. "Great, we've got an idea now. Okay, we should start to work on the script, just filling in the bare minimum details. I like the progress already, guys."

"Wait," came the voice of one of the puppeteers, "are we using puppets for Pinocchio? Because I know Sasori and us can make them, and perform for the play, but for people to take the performance seriously, we need full-scale—"

"I can make them." The red-haired boy cut in, folding his arms over his chest again in a way that suggested he was wounded by the thought that he would not have been able to meet such high standards of puppet-making. The speaker flushed in a mixture of shame and fear, clearly frightened that he had upset the intimidating freshman.

Kurenai-sensei looked between the two, nodding hesitantly. "And control one efficiently?"

Sasori shrugged with one shoulder, his scarlet eyes staring coldly at something in the distance. "If someone supplies the voices for the puppets, I can control multiple bodies, actually."

Deidara's azure orb widened in amazement. His interest was piqued immediately, and he blurted, "Really? How many can you control, un? At a time?"

The redhead looked at him with the same annoyed expression. "I've only ever tried five life-sized puppets at a time, but I'm sure I could go further if I trained."

The blonde's breath caught in his throat as the information sunk in. The boy certainly didn't seem the type to lie about something like this, and modesty or exaggerations were both improbable… Finally, he'd found a creative outlet to match his own in skill, although puppets that didn't self-destruct or evaporate would never be exactly equivalent to his art. "Wow," he commented lamely, "that's… insane, un." How the hell was that even possible?

Sasori caught the transfer student's incredulous look. While the rest of the sprawled-out class began to happily return to ideas for the play, obviously already adapted to the ominous puppeteer's impressive mastery, the redhead offered unexpectedly, "If you don't believe me, after this class, before noon, I can show you."

The sculptor nodded, keen to take any opportunity to solidify his slowly growing ties with the band of Akatsuki. Flinching to himself to ensure that he wasn't hallucinating and that Sasori wasn't joking about showing him, Deidara turned quickly, rejoining the discussion of the play, claiming his place in the class already, as an excellent spring of ideas and plot twists.

For the rest of the remaining class, Sasori did not put into speech any more words or suggestions, only listening from the sides, head cocked childishly in an effortless way. Deidara seemed the polar opposite, freely piping in when he felt an improvement in the script was needed, warming up to the gist of the involving class much better than his red haired friend had.

When the enjoyable course had ended, Deidara sat in confusion for a while, looking for his bag, blue eye squinted in wonder. As the rest of the students flooded out behind him and Kurenai-sensei bid them good-bye, he still crouched on his knees, feeling ridiculously stupid. Then, he was aware of Sasori standing in front of him, holding his bag out wearily. The blond grinned lopsidedly, laughing as he stood up as well, gratefully taking the shoulder bag from the redhead, who rolled his eyes in exasperation.

"So, are you going to show me your puppets, un?" Deidara inquired in a peppy manner, rolling on the balls of his feet. Sasori didn't reply, only walked away, shrugging his canvas bag higher on his shoulder. The blond frowned, frustrated, thinking that he had almost gotten the boy to speak more for a while. Rushing to catch up, he followed close behind, watching as the shorter male walked along the hallways like he had traced the steps countless times over. After a while, he realized that they were in the Art vicinity, where the rooms constantly smelled of fresh river clay, wood shavings and glaze. "I have Pottery tomorrow," he informed his acquaintance contentedly, scuffing at a stray paint tray, watching as it skidded across the corridor softly.

"The Pottery teacher here is an idiot," Sasori replied stonily, his voice flat and plain. "If you want a decent art education, you either ignore him or drop the class." Deidara cringed, wishing that he had been left to find this out for himself, rather than have to enter the room the next day with a bias from the redhead.

He awkwardly shuffled after the boy, blue eye flat with disappointment as he saw that there was only the dense scent of pine and balsa wood hanging in the atmosphere. The blond craned his neck as Sasori disappeared behind a cabinet, fishing for something, probably his puppet. What the pale student retrieved resembled a very ugly, horned assembly of wooden hunks. It had a mess of dark, brown hair like a mane over its head, and three eyes bulging from the face arranged in a triangle. The _thing_ had a very large chin, and emblazoned on it was the Kanji for 'Bird', or 'Crow'. Its mouth lolled open, revealing rows of jagged, white, wooden teeth. To add to the disturbing factors, the puppet had multiple limbs dangling from under a tattered black shawl it wore draped loosely around its neck. It leered at him, wide, cavernous mouth clacking open and shut repeatedly.

Deidara recoiled in horror, his mouth clearly twisted in revulsion. Sasori did not let this reaction escape his sharp gaze, and he snapped darkly, "What, brat?"

Still sputtering, he blabbered out, "What—what the hell _is_ that thing? It looks like a—like a freaking mutant bear!"

Blackened rose irises slit dangerously as Sasori tucked the puppet protectively behind himself. He spat sourly, "It's a fucking battle-puppet, what'd you expect?"

"It's not even life-sized, un! And what the hell's a battle-puppet then?" Deidara protested in wonder, thrusting a hand at the wooden figure in dismay.

"Karasu is made to be deadly in a fight. He's got slots where I can install knives, but campus obviously doesn't allow that kind of thing. And of course he's not life-sized; they wouldn't let me keep something that big in the storage!"

Still unconvinced, the blond frowned. "You weren't trying to make him humanoid, were you..?"

Sasori growled in his throat, shaking the rattling puppet. "Of course not, do you really think I'm that bad? He's supposed to look like this. No one would take a human-resembling puppet in battle seriously. He's meant to intimidate, brat."

Deidara sighed in defeat. "Un…" He muttered in hopelessness. "So, then show me how you can control so many of them."

Obligingly, the redhead reached back in the cabinet and drew out four more puppets, one appearing to be a flat-bellied salamander of sorts, another looking like a copy of 'Karasu' and with a larger stomach, but the last two were actually human-like. One was obviously a female, with long, chocolate hair and deep brown eyes that stared blankly forward, the other a male with flaming red hair, not unlike the puppeteer's, and the same thin, dark brows, with set black eyes under them, gazing into space. Deidara blinked in surprise. "I have life-sized versions of them still at home." Sasori explained quietly, affixing the strings to his digits. The blond studied the couple's face, understanding as he recognized the long lashes, heavy eyelids and of course, the hair, that appeared on Sasori. They were replicas of his mother and father.

Before he could pursue the thoughts, the five puppets began to wriggle, each moving smoothly, almost as if they had thoughts and body functions of their own. The large, azure eye widened as it observed the show, disbelief clouding his vision. But indeed, Sasori's fingers were twitching quickly back and forth, tugging and prying deftly, a look of intense concentration on his face. Entranced by the display, Deidara stared back and forth between the now dancing puppets and the redhead. He started, when a loud '_beep' _noise permeated the still atmosphere, which had been in perfect harmony with the rhythm of the clacking wooden joints.

The puppeteer sighed, halting the show and reaching into his front pocket to retrieve a dark red slide phone, making the salamander and his supposed parents jostle as they moved with his hands. As the boy was reading a text message or something else he had received, Deidara grinned broadly, extremely awed by the impromptu spectacle. "How… how did you do that, un?" He demanded animatedly, his visible eye alight with excitement.

"Training my ass off since the first grade…" The redhead answered in monotone, eyes still skimming the message. "Hey, brat, do you want to go alien hunting with us tonight? Pein's idea."

The new student knit his brow in confusion. "Huh? How do you hunt..?"

Sasori sighed, plainly tired of having to explain so many details to the blond. "We're only sneaking out of campus at midnight, going to the cornfield just off the South Gate, and running around there for an hour or so. We're not really looking to hunt aliens, that idiot Tobi just named it that, since he learned about crop circles, and the name stuck."

"Are we _allowed _to go off campus? Is it trespassing? What if we get caught?"

"Who gives a shit? Coming or not?"

Deidara smiled slightly. His newfound group of friends apparently had a lot more oddities hidden behind their customs than he had first estimated. He could adjust quickly, so a spot of illegal wandering wouldn't hurt if the friends still went to the trouble of doing this. It couldn't be that bad.

"Alien hunting, un…"

* * *

I really actually do love Kinny, but she just seemed the only one I could picture as his stalker. It was originally going to be Tayuya. XDDD Please review, and I hope to see you again next chapter! :3


	4. Trespass

Hm. I'm not happy with this chapter. xX; It seems so... cliched. Blaahhh. Oh well, sorry if it sucks. D: Andd. Sorry again for the long update that definitely was not worth the wait. Ughh, I've kinda lost my motivation for this fiction, haha. I feel like it's a cluster of crappy oneshots. +.+ Thanks to the people who reviewed though! :D So. Yeah, sorry if this is less than you expected. :\ Please check out RandomlyCheesey, she makes the craziest stuff for Maximum Ride. :D  
and happy fifteenth birthday to you Mika, wherever you are in Japann!! :DD

**Credits: **Eh. Don't own. :PPPP

* * *

**Chapter Three**

He cautiously poked his head into the cramped room, hoping against hope that he'd see the mop of red hair, flaming against the pale walls. As he had expected, Sasori wasn't in his Freelance Art class. Sighing to himself, Deidara entered, tucking his bag higher on his shoulder. He'd have to make new friends… Something he'd been in perpetual fear of when he'd turned in his transfer application. Flopping down at random in a seat near a cabinet that smelled promisingly of newly harvested river clay, Deidara slung his carrier off his person, and deposited it on the floor until the instructor would take control of the class.

As the stool next to his was being pulled out, he looked up at the newcomer. It was a very pretty, blue-haired girl, with a complex origami rose perched in her locks. She had a piercing pattern not unlike Pein's on her face, though with considerably less studded pieces, and a more feminine assembly. She looked down at Deidara from under dark, heavy lids, eyes scanning him over. The blonde squirmed uncomfortably, wishing she'd be less forward with her staring. Finally, the girl spoke in a low voice, "You're Tobi's roommate, aren't you? Deidara, the transfer student."

He started, wondering how she knew this. Campus wasn't that small a world… "Yeah, but…"

"I'll be getting to know you better, then. Pein's told me quite a bit about you… and I'd hoped we'd have a class together."

The boy blinked in confusion. "So… that's why you knew about me, un?"

She nodded gravely, adjusting the origami blossom on her head before taking her seat beside him, nodding. "He's told me quite a bit about you. He says you're the first to get on non-violent terms with Akasuna no Sasori so quickly." She let a light chuckle escape her lips. "More surprisingly, out of all the Akatsuki guys, you chose to hang out with him more. Pein figured you'd like either Kisame or Hidan better, but hey, whatever." She let a small smile quirk her mouth, which looked odd on her face, suggesting she reserved certain expressions for only her friends. Apparently, Deidara was in already.

"Who else is in our… group? Uhm, actually, I don't even know your name." He admitted awkwardly. The shared possessive pronoun felt strangely gratifying, and it pleased him to know that he'd been fortunate enough to kick-start his career here with decent friends. As long as he knew their names.

"I'm Konan. And nobody else hangs out with us than me and the people you met on your dorm floor in Pein's room. Who happen to be the people you'll be going in the corn field with tonight."

"So," he continued, "is everyone going alien-hunting tonight?"

Konan nodded again, absently folding a discarded board notification that she had draw up from the floor. "Yes, if you're bent on using that name that Tobi made up. You too, right? Not going to chicken out on us?"

"Un," he confirmed, wondering what there could possibly be to 'chicken out' about when simply going to a cornfield. "Where do I go? I don't know my way around too well, hm."

Konan opened her mouth to answer, but stopped when at the front of the room, the instructor stood up to start the class. She was a short woman with her hair pulled back in a tight spike, with black, slit eyes. She waved a dango stick between her middle and fourth fingers, and snapped out sharply, "This is Freelance. Use what media you need, I really don't care. Neither does the rest of this college. So today, I want you to create a work of art that represents… 'precious'. Make something up."

With that, she turned away, returning to her desk. Deidara blinked in surprise. "That's it?"

Just then, a familiar tone asked, "Anko-sensei? May I please see what Sasori-kun made yesterday?"

The black-haired woman snarled, "Dammit, Tsuchi, you ask me every day, and the answer is always no. Everyone's work is private."

Kin smiled dreamily, flicking her drapery of black hair behind her back. "There's always a chance that one day, he said I could see…"

Anko scoffed. "Don't trick yourself, Tsuchi, give it up." The snappy teacher returned to her desk computer, which was obviously more interesting than her obsessive student's petty concerns.

Undeterred, the girl began to gush about the amazing puppeteer to her unfortunate table partner, a boy named Zaku.

In front of her, Deidara moaned inaudibly for agony. She seemed an experienced ranter about her favorite topic, who also happened to be his only real friend at the moment. Sighing in defeat, he got up to look for Konan, who had left eerily silently a moment ago, and was leafing selectively through a sheaf of origami paper on a counter. "Konan-san, is there any clay that I can use, un?"

Without looking up from the fish-scale design she was scanning over critically, she replied, "Third cabinet to the left on the east wall. They've got a couple types, so you can take as much as you need."

Thanking her happily, Deidara trotted to said cabinet, excitement in his steps. This was, indeed, quite an impressive college. As he pulled open the door, his visible eye sparkled in awe, and a huge grin split across his face. The plastic wrapped material was cut into several cubes, and had various labels naming the different types. There was Amazon imported soft clay, a reddish form from the Ganges River, and an exotic one, harvested from the Danube, its silver-grey skin shining with wetness and a promising soft, but sturdy texture. Selecting the last one, Deidara hefted the large cube from its shelf, expertly peeling back the sticky plastic and, with the help of a wire, cut off a good slab for his use. Returning the rest of the clay back to its place on the wooden shelf, the blonde gingerly carried his prize back to the table, finding Konan back already, in progress with a magnificent assortment of feather-like pieces that she was painstakingly folding, each one individually.

Sitting down at his stool, Deidara wielded his chunk and smacked it onto the tabletop, kneading the clay happily with deft fingers. Precious… He'd do something simplistic that didn't relate to his own past in any way; no need to play the tragic hero or draw any unnecessary attention to himself.

But his successful train of thoughts was rudely shattered, when he heard Kin talking again, this time about how gorgeous Sasori's eyes were.

"They're so reddish-brown; they're like chocolate flames… of fire! Like the setting sun, Zaku!"

"Kin…"

"Don't you agree? They're such a different shade, so beautiful…"

"Kin, just shut up, you always talk about him. It's a serious obsession. You stalk him, for Kami's sake. What's he got next on his schedule?"

"I am not a stalker! But he's got no more classes for the rest of the day."

"What's he doing tonight?"

"Going out with his friends."

Horrified, Deidara turned to look at Konan. "That's… really creepy, un," he commented under his breath, fingers absently molding the clay. The blue-haired female creased a paper, gently inserting her feathers into the slots to create a complex wing. "Isn't it? How she knows all this is still a wonder. Don't let it bother you though. Kin's pretty harmless."

"Really… but, you never got to answer from earlier, un. Where should I go?"

"For the cornfield?"

"Un."

"Follow Kin, she'll take you to Sasori."

"What?"

"It sounds stupid, but just do it." Konan finished a second wing and began to crease a larger sheet of origami paper, clearly not in the mood for talking anymore.

Murmuring a noise of consent, Deidara concentrated on his own sculpture, deciding to just allow things to happen.

After silence only broken by Kin's ceaseless babbling of her beloved Sasori and Zaku's impatient growling, he finally had two clay hands, intertwined together in a clasp that seemed to represent a sort of bond, one whose meaning he had no idea. The details were magnificent, every nail and cuticle accounted for. Blinking tiredly but happy, he scraped the thick clay off of his palms, turning to look at Konan's creation. He was thoroughly impressed; it was an angel standing there, completely made of paper, but her face was smooth and untouched, eerie as she rested in a transfixed pose. He admired the paper statuette for a while longer as Konan folded in the final teases.

"Leave your work here and go. Class dismissed." Anko called out in a bored, uncaring voice. Quite clearly, not a very concerned teacher, she allowed her students to leave in as little syllables as possible.

Remembering Konan's words, Deidara hurried to trail after Kin, who had set off with a spring in her step and hard determination in her eyes. He dogged behind the girl, hoping that his new blue-haired friend had been correct in her queer directions.

After awkwardly following Kin though, he saw that she had indeed found Sasori, as if she were in possession of a locator for the boy. Approaching the redhead from behind, Kin suddenly snuck up from his back, and threw her arms around his waist.

"Freaking—" He swore loudly, seizing his assaulter's arms furiously, prying them from about his body. "Get off of me, you—"

Managing to swat the stalker off, Sasori snarled as he attempted to escape. "How was your Woodwork class?" She fell in step beside the boy, and Deidara had to hurry to keep up with ten two in front of him. Kin began to barrage the redhead with questions mercilessly, and Deidara felt it was well time to interfere.

"Sasori, un..."

In relief, the puppeteer turned around, looking for his savior. "Deidara?"  
"Uh, where do we go for alien—"

"I'll take you," Sasori hurriedly covered up the rest of his inquiry, shifting his gaze to the intently listening girl.

"Alien what?" She asked interestedly. "Piss off, un," Deidara snapped.

Taking the moment of offended sadness on Kin's face, the redhead surged forward in the walkway, hearing Deidara close behind. Breaking into a run, he dashed to the nearest campus bus stop, barely making it in time to the vehicle sitting there, almost having left. He leaned on the steps, gesturing to the blonde. The sculptor put on an extra burst in his step, rushing on behind Sasori. The two spurted up the stairs and sank down on a plastic seat in relief behind an irate driver, a laugh emitting from Deidara's throat as Kin stopped her run from afar and looking on in defeat from the bus station she'd just reached.

He turned back to Sasori, hoping to start a conversation. To his dismay, the redhead had cracked open a textbook about chemistry, and so the blonde stared gloomily out the window. It was, luckily, only a few minutes later that he heard the boy state softly, "We're back at the dorm now."

Deidara happily got up, glad to be rid of the short ride's silence. He followed his classmate off the bus, walking the rest of the decent distant to the Akatsuki dorm. "So do we just go to our rooms now?"

The shorter boy shook his head. "We're staying in Pein's and Zetsu's until everyone's there."

In the room though, there was only Itachi and Kisame, conversing quietly. "Hey, Sasori-san, Deidara-san." The bluish student greeted them, a pointy smile offered. Sasori sat down on the bed opposite of the other two, Deidara doing so as well.

"Hey Kisame-san… Itachi-san…" The blonde replied, folding his hands underneath his legs. "Is no one else here yet?"

Well, Kakuzu and Hidan are probably on the way since their last class is on the other side of campus, Zetsu's most likely volunteered to stay after Botany to water the plants, Tobi's still in your room doing something we don't want to know, and Pein and Konan are… well, they'll be here soon, anyhow."

Deidara nodded, remembering each person with a happy satisfaction that he'd already learned their names. "Yeah, I met Konan in Freelance Art, un."

At that moment, there was a loud banging from the hall, loud screaming and swearing, and consecutively, doors being opened and shouts of "Shut up!" echoing through the dorm building. "Well, there's Kakuzu and Hidan," Itachi noted quietly, an amused expression on his lined face.

"Shut the hell up yourselves, fuckheads!" The doorknob began to rattle violently. "Goddammit, who locked the shitting door?"

Deidara flushed a light red, cursing his instinctive manners that had forced him to slide the bolt shut after him. He bounced up and rushed to the door, wrenching the bolt open and thrusting the barrier away.

A furious Hidan stood there with a bored Kakuzu behind him. "Dammit Blondie, don't lock the fucking door!"  
"Don't blame him for your own stupidity." Kakuzu retorted darkly, emerald eyes half-closed.

"You!" Hidan roared once he'd stepped in the room, friend close behind. "Why the hell did you try to piss me off on purpose? You knew people would laugh if you called my rosary a fucking necklace didn't you?"

Deidara hastily stepped back warily, afraid of the hot words. "Don't worry, they do this every day, bickering over the stupidest things." Sasori told him in an uninterested expression.

"Un…"

The four watched on as Hidan proceeded to scream curses, oaths and swears at Kakuzu, until the latter tiredly picked up a water bottle from the desk, and threw it savagely at Hidan's head.

"…my religion is a— Ow! What the—" Falling backwards as the bottle collided with his white head; he tripped over the bedpost, crumpling backwards onto a bed. "Motherfucker!" He roared in pain. Deidara flinched, jumping up in time to miss the falling albino. The violet eyes stared up at the ceiling and at Sasori, who was looking at him in distaste and annoyance.

"Oi, Red, wanna help me back up?"

The shorter boy scoffed darkly, ramming his elbow into Hidan's forehead. The abused religious zealot clutched at his head, ranting in a fury, "Shit! Jashin, what'd I ever do to you? You fuckpansies are all gonna die, dammit!"

Tobi entered the room then, pushing his bizarre mask higher on his face, which Deidara had finally decided not to worry about, though it was disturbing, wondering what was in the same room as him at night. "Deidara-sempai!" He called out happily. "We're going alien hunting! Aren't you so excited?"

He promptly sat down beside Itachi, waving a palm far too close to the sullen boy's face. "Itachi-sama! You don't look excited! Why not? We're going alien hunting!"

The raven-haired student raised a thin eyebrow. "Should I be..?" He asked in his soft, velvety voice, a very monotone quality to it.

"Yes, of course, Ita—"

"Oh, great to see you, Tobi, y'little dumbfuck. Isn't anyone going to help me up yet? Or am I just a fucking pillow now?"

Laughing, Kakuzu held out a tan hand for his roommate to take. Gratefully, the albino seized the appendage, tugging himself up by the support. "Good Jashin, someone who gives a shit."

"Not really," the dark student commented, releasing his hand just before Hidan could sit up enough. He let out another laugh, this time filled with a sadistic note. "Damn it all, Kakuzu!" He screamed, landing back where he'd started. He glared up at Sasori again. "Red, I swear, if you elbow my head again, you'll be shitting your freakish little puppet things out of your ass for a fucking week."

"You always say that, Hidan-san!" Tobi informed him happily as the redhead's elbow once more whacked the exposed forehead.

"Motherfuckers!" He cursed again in a wrath.

"What," came a slow voice, "is going on here?"

"These damn pricks," Hidan shouted, pointing his index fingers at Sasori and Kakuzu, "are trying to fucking rape me!"

"You sick bastard," Sasori hissed dangerously. "Do you _want_ to be raped?"

Hidan quirked his brow at the redhead. "Dude, that came out sounding so fucking wrong—"

Deidara approached his friend warily, whose eyes were flitting again.

Pein interrupted him coolly. "Hidan, get up, we're leaving as soon as it's dark enough."

Tobi flapped his arms ecstatically, chanting, "Yay! This sounds like we're going on a top secret alien hunting mission!"

"Yeah, okay, good for you Tobi, except I'm still kind of stuck."

"Tobi's a good boy!" He claimed, kindly dragging Hidan up at last. "Thank Jashin," the white-haired man grunted, still rubbing his brow ruefully.

Smiling lopsidedly at Hidan's unintentional humorous acts, Deidara turned his head to face the door, where Pein and Konan stood beside each other, the queer Zetsu just in front of them.

"The sun's really sinking now, un…" The blonde noted, motioning to the pink-filled windows as the setting solar light stained campus a calming, cherry hue.

"Perfect," Konan stated, grinning at Pein with a concealed admiration in her heavy set orbs.

"We're leaving now?" Kisame asked, stretching his arms above his head gratefully.

"Let's," Zetsu added, his strangely arranged face looking to Pein in Konan in ready expectance.

Nodding in consent, Pein simply dumped his bag on his desk, exiting quietly. Deidara's blue eye widened and he walked closely to Sasori, unsure of what he was supposed to do. "Just stay close, be quiet, and if anyone asks or stops us, just say we're going to the café for a very late dinner."

"But… I thought that was in campus, and the cornfield is off campus, un…"

"Exactly. It's near the edge though, so we'll be able to go in that direction should we be seen, but then run out."

The blonde nodded, absorbing this information. Luckily, as the large band rushed quickly through the streets, no one stopped them, as there were only other students out, wandering to and from their volunteer jobs.

Deidara couldn't help but to steal nervous looks at his cell phone's clock every now and then. 9:04. Twenty-six minutes to curfew, when they were expected to be at least on their way back to the dorm buildings. Was their story even believable?  
"Just keep up with the group," Sasori advised, noticing Deidara's mild time obsession. "If we run into any danger, Pein can take care of it. He's a model student, anyone'd believe him."

At last, the group of ten reached their 'destination'. Deidara nervously flipped his phone open again. 9:21. A cold hand closed the lid, small and pale. The blonde looked up at Sasori in question. "No lights just yet, brat."

He frowned at the nickname, but obeyed, putting his appliance back in his jeans pocket. Pein turned to make sure everyone was still together, before stealing around the corner of the café, safely concealed in the shadow of the building. There, a few meters away, was an automatic car gate, the small, neon plank forbidding vehicles in and out of campus at the hour. Easily, the pierced man vaulted over the board, looking in the empty security gatehouse to reassure himself that they were clear. Following suit, Konan went after him, then Itachi, Kisame, Zetsu, Tobi, Sasori, Kakuzu and Hidan. Deidara hopped nervously about, terrified of what might happen if they were caught. "Hurry up, brat!" The redhead hissed, clearly irked.

Throwing away any caution, the blonde whimpered as he sprang over the gate as well. "About time," Sasori complained, hastening to catch up to the rest of the group. Deidara moaned, not knowing if he'd made a wise decision. Shrugging, he trailed after, realizing where they were. The highway was laid out in front of him, cars roaring as they flew by. The blonde swallowed anxiously. "Is this safe?" He raspily asked Sasori.

"Of course, the cornfield's only across the freeway."

His bright blue eye widened in terrified fear. "Pein will tell you when to cross."

Said boy was picking his way to the middle island easily, obviously unafraid. "Konan, come after this semi." He summoned, waving curtly to his blue-haired companion.

Deidara shivered as the huge vehicle zoomed by, throat constricted in horror as he watched the girl cross.

One by one, the rest of the troupe fled across, until it was Sasori's turn.  
"Can I come with you?" The blonde whimpered pleadingly. Rolling his eyes at the boy's fear, the redhead called out to Pein, "Deidara's crossing with me."

"Fine," the pierced face replied. "Come right about…" a pickup truck sped by. "Now!" The blonde grabbed his guide's arm and darted across, his feet dragging far too slowly over the battered tar, the scuffed soles scratching loudly above the rumbling of approaching vehicles. He heaved for breath, cold sweat popping out on his brow as he finally collapsed against Sasori, seeing that they had reached the island. He heaved for breath, staring warily at the next lane to cross.

"You two can go first." Pein offered, not unkindly. He patiently waited for the newcomer to drag himself up by his friend's arm, before scanning the road carefully. He shouted the cue sharply, and once again, Sasori groaned as he shoved Deidara on the highway, practically having to shepherd the blonde over. The most recent student squeaked in alarm as a menacing sedan growled by, honking agitatedly at the two boys. The redhead broke out in laughter, pushing his comrade into the ditch on the other side, finding humor in the sculptor's hyperventilation. "Kami, Deidara, were you seriously that traumatized?"

Choking out some form of answer, he merely staggered out of the small hole, scowling darkly at his mocking guide. When the remainder of the group had crossed over as well, Pein walked calmly to the fence. It was an arrangement of poles, each set about a meter and a half away from the other and all four feet high, three rows of wire stranded between each shaft, tiny barbs tying the rusted material together. He signaled to the land that they were attempting to reach, a satisfied little smirk quirking his studded lips. He carefully climbed the bottom two wires, throwing a leg easily over the top third one, the rest of his anatomy jumping down to follow. There was a bated silence as Pein turned to face his followers, proving that the wire had not been updated with electric currents.

"Fucking yes!" Hidan whooped as he hurdled the fence rather overconfidently. As Sasori mounted the fencing, hands grasping a wooden post, he smirked at Deidara. "You're not scared of rusty wires too, are you?"

Huffing, the blonde shook his head defensively, placing his right foot on the top wire, launching himself over effortlessly, dry stalks crunching under his feet. Feeling cocky with his victory, he suddenly leaned back to his friend, wrapping his long arms around Sasori's skinny torso. He grunted, before constricting his appendages about him, pulling him easily across the rest of the fence, as if the boy were a mere child. To his surprise, the redhead only squirmed and twisted in fury at being so belittled, and didn't show his dread of human contact at all, not blanching in terror or tensing.

"Hey, hey, calm down, I'm only trying to help you, un," the blonde laughed, setting his friend down carefully, barely missing a heated punch from the shorter.

"You—_you fucking carried me_!" The redhead spat, aiming another blow at Deidara's head.

"Guys, stop bickering and come on!" Konan called then, she and Pein running on forwards.

"Stupid brat," Sasori tossed in, glaring up at the taller boy, still stinging from his confiscated pride and dignity. Chuckling, Deidara surged towards the proceeding unit, finding his companion's childish behavior and insults hilarious.

"Deidara-sempai!" Came a sudden shriek.

"Tobi, un?" The blonde approached the masked figure.

"Is that an _alien_?"

"That… is a water tower, Tobi."

"Oh. Well, can we look for aliens in the sky?"

He nodded hesitantly to his peppy roommate, answering, "Sure, un…" He then realized that his masked acquaintance was on the ground of the field. "Down here, Deidara-sempai!"

A gloved hand wrenched his own, and tugged the transfer student down into the grass as well. "Tobi!" The boy yelped. He found though, that the dead crop floor wasn't itchy at all, or uncomfortable in any other way. The stalks, still untouched by the farmers since last autumn, were crinkly and soft from weathering. In fact, the group had come to the most beautiful spot Deidara had ever seen.

The night sky was a cool, muted ebony, tiny shruiken stars studding the black canvas, the distant roar of cars dulled to a soft purr, subdued vibrations from the freeway gently rubbing his back. He gaped in wonder, delighting at how pure everything seemed.

Lying on his back, he noticed that Sasori was, though however unfairly, taller than him, which displeased him. "Oi, Sasori!"

The redhead looked down at the ground in disdain, raising an eyebrow. "What, brat?"

Grinning smugly, the transfer student leaned up and grabbed Sasori's hand the way Tobi had his. "Deidara, you—!" The outweighed boy sputtered as he collapsed beside the blonde in the softened grass.

He struggled to get up, but Deidara held fast to the smaller hand. Defeated, the redhead let out an angry exhale, laying back in surrender. The blonde grinned, proud of his second win in the same evening. He noticed Itachi staring down at him then, pale eyes glinting curiously.

"Itachi-sama!" Tobi squealed, stealing the quiet man's hand and pulling him backwards, so he was added to the growing line of people laying down. "Tobi, what are…? Hey… Kisame…"

The shark-like one held up his hands in firm denial. "No thanks, Itachi-san."

Deidara snickered as Itachi lunged upwards most uncharacteristically, capturing the blue-haired man.

"Sasori-san, get Hidan," the newest member whispered, a barely contained giggle behind his words. The redhead lifted an eyebrow at the blonde, but obligingly pounced up at the albino. "Oh, no you don't, Red." He shouted, stepping backwards. But Kakuzu pushed him into Sasori's range, who snared Hidan's hand, dragging him down. But before the zealot could be felled, he had seized Kakuzu's hand, taking him down with him. "Haha, fucking backstabber, serves you right."

"Oh, shut up, Hidan." Came the other's voice exasperatedly. "Zetsu, join us?"

Deidara glimpsed the multi-coloured boy quickly moving out of anyone's limit. "We'll sit down ourselves, thanks."

"Hm, you thought I _wanted_ to grab your hand?"

The blonde heard Tobi squeaking happily to his left, "Yee! Now only Pein and Konan…"

"Don't… think about it, Tobi." Pein told the masked form wryly.

"Please, Leader-sama?" The black-haired boy whined. "Kisame, if you get him, I'll stop trying to force you into the Blue Man Group!"

Wordlessly, he got up from the line, and ruthlessly sprang on Leader, roughly dragging him down, snarls of savage protests coming from the ginger-haired man as he attempted to free his hand.

"There, Tobi. Hold to your damn promise."

"I will! Tobi is a good boy."

"Tobi is definitely not a good boy." Pein barked roughly from the other end of the line.

"Yes, Tobi is," he protested, sniffling a little. "And Konan-san, please come down too! We are incomplete!"

Unexpectedly, just as he finished his declaration, she screeched in surprise as her partner, Pein, suddenly vaulted up, seizing her by the shoulders. The two collapsed in a pile, most odd behavior rolling off of them that no one would've expected of such normally impassive, uncaring people.

An extremely awkward atmosphere settled over the rest of the group as they tried desperately to block out Konan's strangely feminine laughter.

"Look: a shooting star." Itachi mumbled randomly, his monotone sounding quite anxiously forced. Grateful for the pleasant distraction, they began to converse.

"That's an airplane, Itachi-san."

"Shut the hell up, it's a fucking jumbo jet."

"ALIENS!"

"Tobi, nobody wants to listen to you."

"Aw, Kakuzu, don't be such a cruel—"

"You think it's aliens, Kisame?"

"Well, no, but— I mean, you don't have to be…"

"We have seen that Kisame seems to be confusing himself. Yes, what an idiot. As usual, he does that."

"Zetsu-san, why do you talk in plurals, un?"

"Deidara, you'd be better off innocent. About a lot of things here."

"What's that mean, Sasori-san?"

"He means you're too stupid to—"

"Hidan, you can't possibly be much brighter."

"What the hell! You always put me down, you damn fuckberry!"

"Fuckberry? That's new."

"Yeah, well you're— Jashin DAMMIT, there's a fucking mole EATING MY—"

"That's a stick, Hidan."

"How the fuck did it get-"

"Magnetism."

"Kakuzu! You put it there, didn't you?"

"What? Honestly, why'd I have the urge to, let alone actually stuff a stick up your ass?"

"'Cos you think it's too fucking cute."

"What the_ hell_?"

But before the rest of Hidan and Kakuzu's conversation could continue further, something whitish-yellow flashed across the sky, and Tobi screamed, "ALIENS!" Standing up, he chased after the object, flapping his arms and screeching hysterically. Smiling broadly, Deidara got up, stretching his limbs happily. "Want to join him?"

Sasori let a chuckle escape his lips. "Definitely not." But he lifted himself, and along with a few other could-care-less friends, ran after Tobi and the shooting star. Hidan was hollering with rejuvenated ecstasy, and only Itachi, Pein, and Zetsu followed slowly behind, as if terrified to be caught seen with the reckless others, but glad to not have been dragged into the chase as Kakuzu and Konan had been.

Suddenly, Tobi halted in his tracks, the others stopping in confusion as well. "What's wrong, Tobi?" Kisame asked concernedly.

"Tobi's tired." He answered simply.

Hidan burst out in a rage, "What?! You get so damn hyped up over this fucking alien, then you're just tired and you stop to take a shit or something?"

Tobi nodded eagerly, excited that Hidan understood him so well. The Jashinist roared, "That was lame-ass, wasn't it? I'll give you aliens, you damned fucker!" With his outburst, he suddenly pulled his black cell phone from his hoodie pocket, and catapulted it into the sky, its white light searing through the night canvas.

"ALIENS!" Tobi screamed again, running after Hidan's phone.

The violet eyes rolled in infuriation. "Tobi, you fucking shit-head! I thought you were tired!"

Just as quickly as he'd left, he returned then, cradling the device in his hands. "It's not broken yet, Hidan-san! Isn't that amazing? That was very pretty. I'm so happy I found it!"

"Tobi, shut the fuck up." Hidan grumbled, ripping the phone from the gloves, and launching it forward like a discus. As the masked boy went after it again, wailing like a siren, the albino laughed cruelly. "Ah, that'll take care of the little loser for a while."

Again and again, Tobi returned with the phone, begging for more 'pretty lights'. Deidara noticed the cracked screen with a web design implanted on its glass eventually, and leaning towards Sasori, he asked, "What about his phone though, un?"

The puppeteer laughed in amusement as Hidan dropkicked his cell with a loud cry of, "Take that, motherfuckers!"

"He could really care less, I think. He'll be able to afford a new one anyhow."

Silenced by his vague reply, Deidara shrugged, having to admit to himself that the cell phone's weakly shining light was quite stunning, spiraling slowly through the air. "Art…" He sighed happily, ignoring Sasori's flinch of annoyance and disagreement.

By that time, the remainder of the group had already joined the fireworks display, silently marveling over how alluring the dead cell phone's lights were.

"Hey, Hidan, don't throw it just yet." Kakuzu stopped his roommate, withdrawing a small lighter from his pocket. "Want to set it on fire?"

The amethyst eyes glowed along with an azure one in delight as both boys contemplated the idea. "Fire, un…" Deidara whispered happily, leaning forward eagerly.

As the tan student flicked open the fuse, Hidan cackled maniacally, holding his cell phone over the fire, throwing his head back in laughter as the crackling, acerbic scent of singed plastic filled the area.

Deidara could feel a huge grin cracking his face, and he turned to Sasori to comment on the show, but stopped, awestruck.

The redhead's already flaming hair was sent into even more hypnotic hues of blazes, and it blew in the sweet wind, like fire itself. His haunting, scarlet eyes danced a shocking shade, the tiny inferno reflected in them. As the dim light scattered over his face and cast shadows, Deidara could make out the sharp tip of his nose, the perfect cheekbones, and the frame of his soft lips strong on his pale skin, giving him an overall childish appearance.

The blonde blinked, overwhelmed by the sweet, immature face of an innocent, and he gawked, so stunned that such a cold boy could be thrown into such a differing light. A tinge of jealousy filled his stomach as he realized how truly handsome the redhead was. More so than he thought he'd ever be.

But as he returned his attention to the fire, it suddenly disappeared, sucked back into Kakuzu's lighter. "Shit…" He mumbled to the gathering, tucking the tool in his pocket. "Farmer."

All ten stares instantly went behind their backs, and true to word, the silhouette of a strong, lithe man approached them menacingly, flanked by three, equally intimidating farm hands. For a moment, the college students simply stood awkwardly, unsure of what to do in such a situation, clearly one they'd never been confronted with before. "Run!"

Tobi bawled in finding of the answer. Doing so, the ten began to flee, worry starting to drain as they discovered themselves much better runners than the pursuing men.

Deidara laughed shrilling, adrenaline pumping through his veins as he simply concentrated on planting one foot far in front of the other. From behind him, he could hear the farmer screaming in outrage, "What school do you shits come from?"

"Konoha U!" Kisame shouted back, barely keeping in a snort as he recited, much to the amusement of his friends, their rival school's name. He tossed insults back at the farmer between the distances, vying for some time as the large mass of students crossed back to the freeway.

"Haha, you suckers aren't too bright, are you? You can bet your asses I'm talking to your school presidents!'

But the pursuer never received a reply, as the blue-skinned boy noiselessly fled across the highway.

Any feeling of giddiness evaporated in Deidara, as he realized that the farmer and his hands were a mere dozen meters away from the fence at the time. "Kuso…" He muttered, breathing heavily as he prepared to launch himself over the wires. His feet sprang gracefully onto the metal and his body rolled on the other side, sighing in relief as he found himself temporarily safe. "Sasori..?" He looked around him in the black setting, trying to find the boy. He could see Kisame making it back to campus. Why were he and the redhead always last..? Staring back at the fencing, he realized in horror that the puppeteer was struggling to free his foot from the wires, seething under his breath darkly. "Sasori!"

"Fuck…" Was his only reply. The redhead gripped the two strands that entangled his leg, prying them apart. But as Deidara darted up to help Sasori, he saw the three farmhands appear behind him, grasping the latter's arms tightly as they carefully jumped over the wires as well to join their prisoner. Heart sinking in misery and ill-feeling, the blonde felt a set of firm hands take his upper arms in turn. "You dirty kids, trespassing on my land, ruining my farm profit, filthing my soil! Do you have any idea how much--?"

"Don't just lecture us, old man."

"Getting cocky! God, that is what seriously pisses me off!"

Deidara flinched as the man raised a hand to lash out at the small redhead, instinctively curling his hands into fists, as if he could protect the boy from the strike. But Sasori stood still, cocking his head in that childish way, as if questioning the farmer's actual strength. The hand hovered suspended in the air, and in the moment of hesitation, the boy twisted out of the farm-assistant's hold, elbowing him in the gut, and proceeded to wind the remaining three men, almost effortlessly, much to Deidara's amazement. He delivered a quick series of punches to their lower abdomens and one to the temple for a particularly die-hard farmhand.

"Hurry up, brat," he muttered as he looked over his work in contempt. The four crude farm-workers were sputtering in disbelief, clutching their stomachs in agony. Scoffing at this, Sasori quickly took Deidara's trembling hand, and tugged him to the lip of the freeway, the men stumbling up behind them in a vengeance. "Now." The redhead cued, as the two began the return to campus.

Then, hastily escaping the bitter rage of the farmer and his hands, running madly across a blackened freeway at night, doing the most illegal things Deidara had ever carried out in his life, he realized at that moment, just how cold Sasori's hand was. It was smooth in his grasp, and he subconsciously stroked the back of it with his thumb, fingers tightening around it as their feet skimmed over the last yard of tar. It was… really comforting…

_'Kami, what the hell!' _Deidara blanched, the understanding of his private thoughts echoing loudly in his mind. He'd only just met Sasori a few days ago, and he was a transfer student here, solely for the purpose of getting a better education, not for thinking about how _comforting_ his friend's hand was. The blonde flushed a deep crimson and shuddered inwardly, loosening his hold on the shorter one's fingers considerably.

As they quietly bound over the car gate and slowed to a more relaxed pace when the men's loud swearing became distant, they proceeded deeper into campus. Sasori coughed softly. "Deidara, do you mind…"

Yelping, the blonde realized that he was still clinging on, however lightly, to the shorter one's hand. He released it instantly, as if it contained an electric current. "S-sorry, un!" He stammered, mortified at his shameful display. He clutched his arm to his chest carefully, humiliation taking place on his face as a deeper red.

"It's fine, just…" The redhead smiled lopsidedly, raking a hand through his scarlet locks.

Deidara chewed his bottom lip furiously, leaving deep, stinging imprints in the flesh where he had involuntarily crushed his teeth. Turning his visage away despite the relatively safe cloak of night, the blonde screwed up his face in what he hoped to be a look of disgust, mouth twisted in a grimace. He didn't want these thoughts in his mind… He only wanted a superior learning experience here… Not any petty feelings of admiration.

_'Of course,'_ he concluded, _'I'm just jealous that he's so good-looking and even has a stalker… Hell, I haven't had a girlfriend in my whole life. That's… really sad. And no boyfriend to speak of, either. I took my sculpting teacher's daughter to Homecoming, for Kami's sake. Sasori's probably been dating since the fifth grade and had way too many dates.'_

Needing solid proof to support his self-analyzing, he mused out loud, "Hm, Sasori-san, have you ever had a girlfriend? Or boyfriend? Whatever?"

The redhead responded uncaringly and without emotion, "Eh. Too many. Can't remember."

Intrigued by his suave, indifferent answer but pleased with the confirmation that the boy merely had looks to truly be envious of, Deidara pressed on, "What? Can't you even remember your first?"

Sasori chuckled dryly. "Not really. Some clingy woman, I think."

"So… are you with anyone now?"

Suddenly, the boy's face hardened into a cold figure. "I'm…" He seemed to be struggling for the words through a choked voice. "Not dating anyone. And never will." He searched for some other way to elaborate. "I'll never trust anyone." He continued hesitantly, as if unsure that he could tell the blonde anything more. "If this means staying alone for the rest of my life, it won't matter to me. I can't trust any person with… me."

Deidara scanned over his companion's expression, scrutinizing it as he attempted to define any of the emotions he was feeling. But the eyes were frozen, leaving the blonde to only mull over what he meant.

At last, they got to the dorm building, all throughout the same, awkward, edgy silence that seemed to taint all of the conversations he had with Sasori that he hated so much. He moved forward to tug open the door handle, all perpetual fear from their close scrape with the law completely dissipated by his much more troubling matter of Sasori. The two silently entered the vacant lobby, a few of the student mail boxes posted on the wall now sporting yellow banners that signaled the mailman's deposit. Deidara strode to the white-washed elevator and summoned the mechanism with his middle finger pointed outward, in what he then realized, must have been a most feminine way of doing it. He glanced back at the redhead as the doors slunk open and the duo paced into its confines, and noticed that the other student was getting uneasy, kneading his pale fingers in various weaving patterns. The rouge eyes flickered about frenetically, darting through all parts of the elevator, and he constantly shifted his weight from one foot to the other.

Raising an eyebrow at this unusual behavior, Deidara wondered if he was claustrophobic. But when the elevator surged upward and the tiny note chimed, indicating their arrival on their floor, Sasori made no wild attempt to be the first out of the machine and into open air, actually trudging his feet nervously, hesitant to exit into the cramped hallway. The blonde watched him slowly make his way to his room, and he stood in front of his own door, unwilling to go in until Sasori did so first (as if he were on a date, was his first, stupid thought).

The redhead reached out an unsteady hand to take the knob, and tossed a strange look at Deidara. "I… I…" He started to speak desperately.

"You should get to sleep, un." The flaxen boy adamantly encouraged, hoping his friend would get any amount of decent rest.

"I… was thinking about… maybe studying in the library tonight…" He protested in a strained voice.

"Don't, please. You're tired enough as it is, and study way too much! And… I'm not going in 'til you do, un."

Sasori stumbled for some sort of answer, and placed one hand over his jeans pocket, admitting, "My keys aren't here. And the people with the extra ones aren't downstairs at this hour anymore."

"Uh, well—" Deidara started, trying to think of some sort of solution. Maybe his roommate could do something about the situation, but then, as if on cue, the doorknob on Sasori's door clicked, announcing that it was unlocked. "Oh, he got it." He piped happily, wondering why the redhead didn't just knock before to see if his dorm partner could've opened the door. He patiently watched his friend open the door carefully, and he was about return to his own room he shared with Tobi. But then, to his shock, before Sasori pushed the barrier completely ajar, the red orbs shot to his blue one, and glared in a hostile, cold way. Deidara blanched, backing up at the sudden coldness. 'U-un?" He stammered quietly, scared by the abrupt show of contempt. Wordlessly, the redhead turned away, shoulders warily raised, as if he were anticipating something. Worried, the blonde kept his eye on the door until it snapped shut loudly, before retreating to his own.

What had he done?

* * *

OMG WTF WAS I THINKING. Xx;; THE ENDING IS SO FREAKING STUPID. I know that a lot of facts concerning college are wrongg. x.x Uhh. They go to a. Special college. " Uhhhhhh. Sorry. I'm having self-esteem issues. " Review prease!


	5. Leverage

I haven't updated this in ages. oO" Okay, as a note for this story, I'm going to Taiwan in four days, so don't expect anything for a month. D: Not that I ever got anything out within that time span, -cough-. Anyhoo, here's where the M rating comes in. I swear, I don't write lemons. The prologue, that was a... lime. But this isn't exactly appropriate for children 10 and under. Because Hidan's got a dirty mind like that. I sickened myself writing this chapter. Why do I put myself through this? D: ...masochism... mmmm...

Thanks soo much to the AMAZING Secret Sheik for beta-ing this thing!! :DDD And also, thanks to my readers who read this, and reviewers who take the time out of their busy FF lives to give me an opinion!! I love every one of you people!

**Credits: **I came up with this shitty story, not Kishi. He came up with the smexxy characters. And as for the Leverage part of this chapter, credits to Dora and Isaac. XD

* * *

**Chapter Four**

Oh God. The room was spinning out of control. The ceiling wavered oddly at him, and the one fluorescent light panel in the room staring down at him tauntingly. The air was cold, biting his skin and chilling him. Sasori struggled upright on his elbows, staring down at himself in horror. He was completely unclothed. His breathing hitched sharply, and he trembled madly as he fumbled with the sheets to wrap his small frame in them. The rose eyes flashed to the other bed across the room, thankfully empty. The orbs closed then and he shook violently again, not wanting to remember the sharp, wintry touch on him, but unable to dispel the feeling. Sasori moaned to himself, stuffing the sheets to his mouth as he squeezed his eyes shut. Bile rose up his constricted windpipe, scalding his gullet. The acidic substance burned him, and he choked on it, trying to breathe.

No… He didn't want this. Any of it. Why had it been he that Orochimaru had chosen? His eyes were watering from slight oxygen deprivation and he leaned against the wall, facing upwards as he struggled to regain a steady respiration pattern. His eyes flickered before closing weakly and he continued to gasp faintly as the tears tracked down his ashen face. Sasori felt the salt liquid curl coldly down his bare neck and reminiscence of the night before seized him. "Ugh…" Muttering out a muffled cry of protest, he aggressively took a hold on his own throat, threatening to squeeze the life out of himself if it meant saving him from Orochimaru.

Suddenly, a rapid knock sounded at the door and the redhead started, his fingers reflexively jumping off of his neck. "Sasori-san, un? It's getting late, you should wake up."

He let out a soft cough to ease his choked windpipe before answering Deidara. "I'm coming…" The boy trembled again, rubbing away the remnants of his tear tracks, digging the heel of his hand into his cheeks, erasing any evidence that they had come from his eyes. Sighing in resolve, he stood up from his bed, sheets still enfolded about his small body.

"Alright, un… I'm going with Kakuzu-san and Hidan-san down to the Sun Circle, so if you want to meet up with us there…" The blond outside informed his friend, referring to east campus's dining hall. Much to Sasori's relief, the receding of footsteps told him that he was left alone again. He staggered weakly to his dresser, pulling out an outfit at random, beyond caring what he would be seen in. As an afterthought, he tugged on a thick hoodie, emblazoned with the college's name across it, as if another layer of clothing could shield him from Orochimaru.

Sighing, he rummaged through the mess on his desk, cramming any of the numerous books into his bag and hurrying out of the room. He didn't bother doing any of his morning rituals, choosing to take his shower at night. Any excuse could work, so long as it delayed his return to the dorm room in the evening.  
Without bothering to lock the door behind him, he exited quickly, snapping it closed. He didn't want to see anyone. Not yet, at least. So he would have to skip breakfast, a meager sacrifice for his privacy.

**--xoxoxo--**

Deidara exhaled softly between mouthfuls of his bagel. He'd have to go to Pottery soon, and Sasori still hadn't shown up. He was still worried about that _look_ he'd gotten the night before…

His sapphire eye scanned carefully over the crowd of college students, searching the bobbing heads for the fiery red hair that belonged to his friend. The only tint of color even comparable to Sasori's flaming quality was a tan girl with a reddish-orange ponytail. The blond blinked slowly, worrying again about how the boy had looked at him so hostilely. He couldn't think of a time when he'd offended him… He'd only ordered him to get some rest, and that could hardly be counted as sinful, could it..?

"Yo, Blondie, wake up," came an annoyed growling. Deidara started, glancing at Hidan, the pale man wielding a fork at his face. "What's got you so fucked?"

"I… can't find Sasori-san, un." The sculptor furrowed his visible eyebrow in concern, returning his gaze to the buffet area.

A dry chuckle fled Hidan's lips. "That Akasuna bastard? Why? He's such an emotionless prick. Pisses the fuck outta me."

Kakuzu smacked his friend over the head violently. "Don't listen to him. He's just mad that Sasori abused him yesterday and I didn't do anything about it."

"Am not, Kuzu," the albino whined, rubbing his silvery head ruefully. "But seriously, why do you care?"

"He's my friend, un." The blond replied absently, still visually combing through the crowd. Still, there was no trace of the redhead and Deidara was forced to admit that he would not be coming at all. Sighing, he collected his bag and picked up his tray. "I'd better go. See you later, hm."

Hidan smirked, an unreadable expression on his face. "Sure, Blondie."

Kakuzu glared at him with his sparking, emerald eyes. "Hidan…" He warned.

"What? Good Jashin, cool down, Kuzu."

Deidara raised a thin eyebrow in wonder at the concealed inside joke or something, as he strode away.

**--xoxoxo--**

Pottery was the only peace Deidara had all morning. His walk to the class was torturous, as he'd put off walking there to the last minute for Sasori. He'd found himself stuck with Kin and Zaku behind him, the ceaseless chatter and Zaku's swearing burning a hole through his mind.

"I am _so_ worried. I didn't see Sasori-kun _all_ morning, and it's not like him to skip out on hanging with his friends during breakfast!"

"Kin…"

"Where do you think he went?"

"_Kin…"_

"Oh! Hey, Blondie!"

Deidara turned around in frustration. "My name is Deidara. What do you want, un?" He snapped in an acidic voice, barbed with venom.

"Whoa, Cranky." Kin smirked at him, obviously pleased that she'd gotten to him.

"Tsuchi Kin." Her friend glared at her, a hand on her upper arm.

"What's up, Zaku?"

"We passed the building. Can you honestly please stop obsessing about that damn puppet boy and get to class?"

Deidara bristled, offended by Zaku's clear dislike for Sasori. However, any move to defend the redhead was stolen by Kin, as she burst out "Zaku! How can you call Sasori a 'damn puppet boy'? He's so—"

"Yes, I know, I get it. But we're gonna be late unless you come on."

As she reluctantly turned to go, she waved at Deidara. "Well, I'll talk to you later about this, Deidara! Don't think I don't know you two hang out together!"

His one ice-blue eye widened in alarm. Was he to be doomed to her stalking as well, now that it was known that he was Sasori's friend?

Thankfully, she had then vanished with her companion, still babbling about how she'd find him in his Woodwork class later on in the day and ask him there, but would restrain herself as to not 'invade his personal space'. Deidara let out a poisonous scoff, tart and full of dislike. That girl got him so pissed off….

Then in his class itself, the professor had been ill and they were stuck with the Pottery teacher from the other side of campus. He was an annoying, controlling old man, always stroking his dark mustache critically over the blond's work, tisking about the 'poor construction' and kneading a bit of the clay himself, trying to modify his sculpture.

Deidara ground his teeth furiously. It took all of his own willpower to not snap and scream out, throwing the entire pile of clay at his temporary instructor's head. He seethed, frustration coursing violently through his body. By the time the class was finally done, it was with great rancor then that he savagely lashed the moist plastic sheet around his 'work' and stuffed it less than fragilely into his assigned crate. As soon as the regular teacher returned, he would demolish the idiotic thing and redo it.

Marching out of the room ahead of the crowd, his mind began to wander as he absently strode through the turpentine-smelling hallways to his next class, Theater. He hadn't forgotten about Sasori's challenge to him from the day they'd met, though it felt like forever ago. In reality, it had only been just over a week, but the great amount of time that the group of Akatsuki hung out together had smudged the importance of minutes, hours, days. The words still sounded in his head with Sasori's cocky, arrogant attitude, a surefire feeling behind the challenge that he would win. _"Prove to me it's 'fleeting', brat."_

So overwhelmed by friends and mostly schoolwork, Deidara had not had time to formulate a plan to take on the dare, but he didn't want to slap something together. He truly wanted to convince Sasori that art was a split-second thing, something that fled as gorgeously as it came. He could not mess this up. He had, he felt, one chance to win the redhead's opinion over. A smirk played at the corner of his lip. He still was at a loss as to how he would do that but decided he would be able to take his time. It had to be perfect, absolutely flawless, so it could wait to the end of the year if need be, as long as it played its part.

If he was to convince Sasori, then it obviously had to be something that would appeal to the redhead. Musings cycled through his brain, each calculating but promptly being tossed aside. His partially concealed forehead furrowed in confusion. God, the boy was so complex. Of course he wouldn't be able to find anything after only knowing him for such a short time.

His thoughts carried him on to the stage, where he found himself to be among the first to arrive at the class. Even though he came as an art major in sculpting work, his favorite course was still Theater. The class itself was different from any other he'd ever experienced in all his education, every member joined in as one for the production, working towards the final play instead of worrying about exams or other such trivial tests.

The teacher tucked a long strand of her curly, black hair behind an ear, greeting him cheerfully.

"Hey, Deidara. Good to see you again."

He smiled and nodded to her, taking his usual place near the back of the stage and sitting cross-legged there. "Hi, Kurenai-sensei. Are we going to start rehearsing the beginning now?" He asked. Kurenai shook her dark head patiently. "No, we have to go through the script again and finish writing the end. It won't be another week 'til we actually start even finalizing roles. And then we need to give Sasori and the other puppeteers time to finish their puppets."

Deidara nodded in understanding. "Oh, okay, un. I just want to begin." He added to himself, twisting his book bag straps in his fingers. Just then, he became aware of an approaching presence. Unusually perkily, he snapped his head up. "Sasori-san!"He exclaimed, with perhaps too much enthusiasm. He flushed, embarrassed by his own loud, happy outburst.

The redhead cocked his head, lifting a thin, dark eyebrow, looking down at the sitting blond. "Brat." He stated.

Deidara was about to retort rudely until he realized that the redhead's voice was soft, almost weak. His turquoise eye widened and he reached up to pull his friend down beside him by the sweater sleeve; the edges trailed far past the pale fingers. With a small noise of surprise, the boy fell down on the stage floor.

"Did you get enough rest, un?" He asked in genuine worry. For an answer, Sasori simply stared at the blond blearily, dark circles surrounding his rose orbs, blinking slowly. Deidara's face crumpled. "Sasori-san," he whined childishly, "you're going to die of sleep deprivation."

The redhead rearranged himself on the ground beside the transfer student, shifting from the uncomfortable position he'd been dragged into, crossing his legs instead. "I got _some_ sleep," he protested, rubbing his shadowed eyes exhaustedly.

Deidara furrowed his brow. "It doesn't look like it, un."

"Don't be nosy, brat." Sasori snapped, looking up slightly at the taller male.

Then, a loud clap filled the stage. "Alright, let's begin." Kurenai implored, her ruby eyes searching to ensure that the full class was there. The blond cast another look at his companion. He seemed to have forgotten about the look from yesterday, and Deidara hoped that he was on good terms with Sasori again.

The chattering students gathered in a tight circle around the teacher and a sheaf of papers. "This is what we've finished from a total of four hours together." She notified her Theater students. "Even then, we only have the first part done. Let's finish it today, alright?" She grinned encouragingly at her pupils, as if positive that they couldn't disappoint her.

Immediately, the main playwrights, a tall brunette with heavy glasses and the transfer student from Iwa, himself, surged to the middle to lead the process. "Everyone," Kurenai reminded over the swarming discussion, "you have to show how involved you are in this thing to get your points for this grade!" She was almost entirely ignored as the class enthusiastically began their task.

"Okay, so it ends off so far with the fairy leaving his Magical Fairy Land of Stupid Homophobic Fairies, un."

"Then he decides to take up the job of helping people, like Pinocchio."

"Yeah… And I was thinking about this: We should put it into three acts. You know, the intro, the fairy comes, the conclusion. What do you think, Deidara?"

"I think that'd be the best way to work it out, un."

The blond uncapped his ballpoint pen, writing various details down. The chatter and input around him rose and fell in volume and he jotted down the ideas. This was what he lived for, the noise, the inspiration. Just then, as he was printing down a line, he felt someone moving behind him. He craned his head back to face Sasori, who was peering over his shoulder, reading the script.

"Hey, un," he greeted, the smile on his face growing more. It felt like the boy was forgiving him for whatever he'd done last night, though the accusation in the scarlet orbs still worried him. He'd ask about it later, then…

"Hey." Sasori replied, his burgundy orbs still lazily skimming over the paper.

"So… how is it, un?" Deidara asked hopefully, ice-blue eye searching the puppeteer's face expectantly.

"…good, actually. But I can't write to save my life, so I might just be impressed."

The blond let the small corner of his lip curl upwards in joy at the other boy's approval. Deciding not to say anything more, he blew on his golden bang, then returned to the script. The entire rest of the course, he could barely sense Sasori's presence by his shoulder, and when a girl took the papers to write a part out, he allowed his mind to wander. Of all things, to the face of the boy behind him. Deidara found himself still envious of the redhead's looks, the shape of his face, and everything else he'd noticed while Alien Hunting. A flush crawled over his cheeks, realizing just what he was thinking in such a concentrated way about. …Damn Sasori for being so attractive..!

With some relief, when Kurenai swooped down and took the script, Deidara instantly stood, shuffling his way off to the side of the stage, somewhat glad to be a safer distance from his friend and ergo a safer distance away from his mortifying thoughts. He allowed himself enough time to clear his throbbing skull before picking up his bag and turning to finally look at the redhead. "So what do you have next?"

The boy looked upward for a moment, thinking. "Woodwork… then break. I think. I'm not sure."

Deidara laughed lightly. "Well, see you later then, Sasori-san, un."

His friend nodded once, taking his leave as he stepped into the corridor, up to the section of the structure he was having his next class in. The blond took his own way, exiting the Arts building. He had a break next and it continued until after noon, so he'd return to his dorm room to occupy himself until he decided to leave.

Once he had reached the dorm building that he belonged to, he entered the parlor, smiling politely at the couple sprawled over the once couch in the room, their arms entwined. He awkwardly made his way to his mailbox, just behind the girl's head. "Uh, excuse me, un…" He muttered apologetically. The girl looked at him in such a disdainful way, Deidara was half-considering just leaving the room, as there probably wasn't even a letter, anyhow… She tilted her head though, into the crook of her boyfriend's neck, still scanning him over strangely. He grimaced as he pulled open the door, her dark hair still clinging to the metal catches of the knob. As expected, there was nothing.

Closing the metal barrier ruefully, he shuffled into the waiting elevator, jabbing the fourth floor button hastily and eager to be away from the hostile duo. The contraption swayed slightly, then surged up. Reaching the fourth level, Deidara stepped out, finding the hallway eerily quieter than he was used to. Entering his dorm room, it shocked him at first to see it so empty without Tobi bouncing about the place and screaming like a howler monkey.

Distracted by the absence of the curiously comforting ruckus of his roommate, the student simply set down his book bag on his bed and promptly exited the silent chamber. Completing his assignments would be absolutely impossible. He stood wonderingly in front of his room, clicking the door closed. Surely _someone_ he knew had to have a break now as well?

Wishing for human interaction, he strained his ears, barely making out the soft talking from Hidan's room. Deidara shrugged and proceeded to knock at the door.

The chatting subsided as the thumps against wood sounded. "Who's there?" Asked one who sounded like Kakuzu. "Can I… come in, un?"

The door opened, a half-naked Hidan standing there, the bright violet eyes examining Deidara. "Sure, Blondie." He stepped backwards in a friendly gesture, allowing the blond entrance.

This room, he noticed, was by far the messiest. Papers lay strewn across the floor among various candy wrappers, books sitting spine-up and several broken calculators, which all appeared to have been incapacitated on purpose. But what caught Deidara's eye the most were the dark spots of blood that marred at least every surface in visible sight. On Hidan's desk lay a small pocketknife, its silver blade coated in the dried substance.

The albino caught Deidara staring at this and laughed softly. "Oh, I forgot that you never learned about my religion, Heathen." The transfer student looked at Hidan in question, his lightning blue eye wide in horror.

"I'm a Jashinist," he began, "and these are the remains of sacrifices I made for Jashin-sama." The zealot grinned crookedly in a way that forced the blond to doubt his mental stability.

"Sa- sacrifices, un?"

Kakuzu spoke for the first time then in his low, gravelly voice. "Not _life_ sacrifices, you idiot. He hacks himself up to offer his blood to Jashin-face. Nothing too dangerous. Just completely ass-headed."

"Fucking heathen, you wouldn't understand!"

"Yeah, I do. I means you scab over, think it's itchy, peel off the scab and start bleeding all over again."

"…Jashin-sama likes my devotion!"

"I don't."

"Why not? Why do you care?"

Deidara watched and listened with mild fascination and terror. He wondered vaguely why Pein and Konan had expected him to make friends with Hidan, rather than Sasori. At least the latter acted reasonably most of the time.

"So," Kakuzu conversed again, obviously ignoring Hidan's implores to know 'why he cared.' "Seen any of your little friend today?"

"Who, Sasori-san? Yeah, I just had Theater with him, un."

The black-haired man pondered for a moment to himself, before simply answering, "Oh."

Unsure of what he meant, Deidara leaned on a desk warily, not knowing what to make of the strange question and the monosyllabic reply.

"Y'know, Blondie… it's awful good he's so short." Hidan drawled slowly.

Deidara was about to snap at the Jashinist for the stupid nickname but halted. "Wait, what? What's Sasori-san's height matter?"

Hidan shrugged generically. "….stuff."

The blond lifted a golden eyebrow incredulously. Much to his surprise, the religious man broke out randomly in uncontrolled laughter. "Hahaha, you have no fucking idea, do you, Blondie? Oh Jashin," Hidan collapsed onto Kakuzu's bed, cackling loudly, his amethyst eyes rolled back in hilarity. Kakuzu looked disdainfully at his friend, amazing jade eyes crinkling in disgust. Standing up, the tanned man exited the room, casting Deidara a look, almost of pity.

The blond squinted as the annoying laughter rang through his ears. It continued a while longer before Deidara realized that the cackles wouldn't cease any time soon. Exasperated, he picked up the departed keyboard of a calculator and threw it at Hidan's naked chest, calling for the hysterical albino's attention. When the masochistic man's laughs only increased, Deidara furrowed his brow, picking up a larger piece of calculator and not caring to worry about inflicting pain anymore, threw it at Hidan's head without restraint.

"Hidan, un!" He roared. "Why're you so slaphappy?"

The zealot answered verbally at last. "I can't believe you're so fucking _innocent_, Blondie! Jashin, you're still a _virgin_, aren't you?"

Deidara's eyes widened warily. He didn't relish the direction that Hidan's humor was taking the conversation. "Yes, and I'm proud of that, un." He assured firmly. To his dismay though, the albino only broke out into a louder screech of hilarity.

The blond made to throw the shattered screen of another calculator at his fellow classmate, but said classmate calmed himself enough to elaborate.

"Okay, okay! So, Virgin Boy, have you ever seen a really short guy," here, he smirked towards Deidara pointedly, "and been turned on by a fucked-up hormonal force you can't even control?"

The sculptor slit his iridescent orbs. "If it's Sasori-san you're talking about, then no, Sasori-san does _not_ 'turn me on'."

"Oh." The albino's reaction was obviously one of disappointment. "Well," he tried again, "don't you think he's _hot_?"

Deidara winced. "Hidan…" he whined piteously, "I don't know if I'm gay! What are you even talking about?"

"Short guys…" he explained happily, "are good in bed!"

The transfer student's bright eyes widened in horror. "What the hell are you saying?"

"You know," Hidan continued, oblivious to the discomfort he was causing Deidara. "Good leverage and all? So when they buck up, their smaller frame gets ya right in the--"

"Hidan! Shut the fuck up!" The blond wailed, on the edge of trauma. He covered his ears pointedly, disturbing and unwanted images flitting into his mind.

"Hey, the way I see it, we're all gonna get laid sooner or later, yeah? So anyhow," he continued on his sexual lecture, "when you get it on with Red, make sure he's on the bottom. If he were with a girl, he'd have to--"

"Hidan! I _told_ you to shut the fuck up!" Deidara roared, eyes bulging at the enormity of what the albino was so casually saying.

"Oh, the thought of him with a girl makes you jealous?" The zealot inquired eagerly, hoping to have gotten somewhere with his victim.

"No!" Deidara denied, the picture of near-nausea on his features. "I don't want thoughts of Sasori with _anyone_ in bed, especially _me_!" His brain was throbbing with the maximum effort he had put into blocking out the images that his classmate was provoking.

"Pleasure City…" Hidan prompted, wanting to ignite lust in the new student, "you and Red and one crazy good fuck…"

"How do you even know all this?" He demanded, hastily cutting off the last part of the other boy's sentence.  
"Kuzu told me." As if on cue, the black-haired boy reentered the dorm, having noticed an end to the insane laughs.

"Ka—Kakuzu-san!" Deidara spluttered, begging for any explanation.

"Leverage?" He asked simply. The blond nodded weakly.

"Hidan, I told you not to spring that talk on people; especially virgins, like Blondie clearly is. But he's right," Kakuzu added, turning his head towards the Iwa native as he placed a warm hand on his roommate's unclothed shoulder. "The shorter the partner, the better the lay. Hidan's shorter than me by a good few inches, I'd know."

Deidara blanched, shock claiming his already flushed face. "You—you two have… done it… with each other, un?"

Hidan raised a silver brow judgingly. "Don't tell me you're one of those shit-pansy fuckass homophobes, Blondie, 'cos believe me, I won't hesitate to force your own—"

"No, I was just surprised that you two already…" Deidara interjected quickly, trailing off soon after, the flush deepening as he realized how naive he sounded. He didn't want to sound like a prude, but in Iwa, no one had ever been so casually open, even almost _proud_ about their intimacy level in a relationship…

"But Sasori's much shorter than you are, a bigger difference than between Hidan and I," Kakuzu returned to the topic that Deidara so dreaded, "it'll be great for you."

The blond withered hopelessly. "I don't _like _Sasori-san that way!" He sighed, not knowing how hard it could be for the bold couple to understand.

"You will," Hidan smirked, obviously ready for this protest. "You already like him physically, though you don't know it. It's the way you act. All shy and shit. And it doesn't really help that he's in most of your classes."

"Don't _distance _yourself from him," Kakuzu clarified, noting the look of alarm on the boy's face. "Just act normally, and let things go from there. I'll admit, Hidan was slightly over-exaggerating. You can be his friend, and that's it." A pinched, but friendly half-smile quirked the dark lips. Deidara heaved a small sigh of joy, his emotions flattening out into relief.

"But Kuzu," Hidan whined miserably, "where's the _action_ if they're _just friends_? You can't possibly expect anything exciting from Red and that Tsuchi girl, can you?"

Deidara worked to conceal a look of revulsion at the thought of Kin getting her object of obsession in a very intimate position.

Just then, sounds of people in the hallway entered the room. The footsteps stopped in front of their door, and Kisame's amiable voice came. "Oi, does anyone want to go swimming with us after dinner?"

Hidan strode quickly to the port, opening it to admit the visitor. "Who's coming?" He asked a bit too eagerly. Deidara bit his tongue nervously. He had a vague idea of the albino's intentions. Helplessly, he watched Kisame unsuspectingly tick off names on his fingers. "Itachi-san, Tobi, Zetsu, Sasori-san, and myself—" His count was rudely interrupted by the loud, victorious whoop of Hidan.

"Blondie, Kuzu and I are fucking in." He announced quickly, violet eyes wide with triumph. Deidara scoffed to himself, rolling his eye back in exasperation. Hidan was a horrible matchmaker. The sculptor pushed exhaustedly past the albino and Kisame, headed for his own room, where Tobi was far too stupid to analyze any love life he might have.

**--xoxoxo--**

"Watch him, he's amazing on the Dive Team." Itachi whispered rather proudly to Deidara, gesturing to the small figure that was Kisame, standing at the end of a three meter high diving board, arms outstretched. After a few slight bounces, the figure flipped several times through the air before landing, almost with no splash, into the deep water.

"Fucking fish," Hidan muttered darkly behind Deidara as they watched him resurfacing gracefully. "And where the hell is Red?" The albino continued, his voice getting impatient.

Not caring to listen to the (annoying) zealot, Deidara simply ignored him before sliding into the deep water after Itachi. Further on the wall, Tobi was happily tugging on Zetsu's leg, trying to urge him into the water. To the blonde's slight amusement, the face that was often concealed by the queer mask was still obscured, now by a ridiculously large, comical snorkel.

The transfer student let his body float on his back for a while, letting the current from Tobi's splashing move his frame slowly. The cool, smooth water rippled over his upper body, relaxing him. Back at the local college in Iwa, there had been nothing as luxurious as a giant pool. There wasn't even a swim and dive team, as there was the one that Kisame was in. It had been sheer classes, all in a poor, ghetto environment. He was truly grateful for his sculpting skills that had landed him a place in the class roster at this university…

Of course, his tranquility was shattered when Hidan let out a piercing roar or what sounded to be outrage. Startled, Deidara swam upright, treading the translucent water as he looked about in alarm.

The source of Hidan's rage was clear enough when he saw Sasori. The redhead was entirely clothed, still in his outfit from the day. It was clear that the boy wouldn't be swimming and would have all his attire on, much to the disappointment of the albino and his matchmaking plans.

Deidara allowed a small smirk to cross his face as he lay back down on the shifting waters, listening amusedly to the albino's conversation with the redhead.

"Why aren't you in your fucking trunks?" Hidan barked violently at the new arrival.

"I didn't want to go swimming." Sasori replied simply, his soft voice calm and decisive. A low chuckle escaped the blonde's lips at the plain response, finding the whole situation rather humorous.

"So why're you even here? Go study if you have your fucking period and can't swim, Red."

Sasori's face twisted into annoyance. "I don't have anything else to do, but I'm not in the mood for getting wet. And since everyone came down here, I did too."

Hidan opened his mouth to say something else, but the redhead snapped, "Stop harping on me, Hidan. I just don't want to swim. Kami…" He irritably turned away, taking a small book from his sweater pocket and flipped it open.

Losing interest, the albino sighed before leaping on his new prey, Kakuzu, attempting to drag the man underwater with him.

Allowing a smirk to curl his lips, Deidara turned in the opposite direction and began to swim laps.

**--xoxoxo--**

After a while, Deidara had grown exasperated with Tobi's consistent bouncing in the water, which had created many near-concussions whenever he'd swam back to Tobi's end of the lane during his laps and the mini-tidal waves would crash his head into the side of the pool.

He climbed onto the side of the vast pool, having lost his want to swim. Wrapping his towel about his frame, he took a seat beside Sasori on the metal bleachers, feeling tired after losing his consciousness several times, on top of avoiding Hidan's annoying matchmaking.

He was pleased to see said albino was currently too occupied with drowning Kakuzu to notice his seat beside the puppeteer.

"Hi, Sasori-san." He piped, ignoring the boy's lower height.

The redhead blinked, folding his book back into his pocket. "Deidara-san." He returned simply.

"You look bored." The blond noted as he retrieved his bag from under the stands, pulling his clothes on quickly over his wet figure. "Do you want to go back to the dorm?"

Nodding at the suggestion, the redhead followed as Deidara stood. Not bothering to inform the rest of the group of their departure, the two left, covering the short distance between the recreational center and their dorm building rapidly.

The walk was mostly filled with minor talk recounting the close scrape with authorities the two had nearly faced during the Alien Hunting: Luckily nothing pertaining to relationships of any form.

At the building, they entered the lobby together, though Sasori then walked through the door that led to the study room. "I'm going to study a bit more." He explained quickly, passing the blond by.

"Okay, so… See you later, un." Leaving with a slight guilt about him that he didn't study half as much as the puppeteer, Deidara stepped into the elevator by himself for the quick ride up to the fourth floor, thankful that the entire walk had been free of any images left over from Hidan's stupid talk.

The elevator's bell pinged its arrival and he sighed, feeling his matted, golden hair. He should really wash out the chlorine before the smell stayed and stiffened it up too badly… Choosing a quick shower, he walked to the fourth floor's bathroom at the end of the corridor, pushing open the door, still wringing out his hair.

To his surprise, there was already someone in the bathroom waiting for an earlier shower, leaning against the tiled wall. It was a pale boy, with lank, black hair that was almost the same length as his own. Purple rimmed the yellow eyes with a natural look, giving the student a strange, snake-like appearance. His arms were crossed over his waist and he leaned slightly forward, as if anticipating an attack.

Deidara cocked his head; he'd never seen this person before, though he must live on this floor if he were using this bathroom. "Hey," he greeted the unfamiliar boy in a friendly manner.

The other student lifted his pale head towards the blond, fingering the emerald belt around his neck. A strange smile curled the white lips with his reply.

"…Hello."

* * *

Aaand there you go! -pants- I can't wait for this sucker to finish up!! This was another stupid buffer chapter, getting ready for the good stuff. Sorry. Anyhoo, bear with me a while longer. D: Thanks for reading! Reviews for the poor, pitiful soul who doesn't want to go to Taiwan? :D


	6. Crushed

Yay! Chapter five! :D I'm excited. Here the action starts! However, it's still somewhat filler-like, so I tried to make up for it with fluff. Also, thanksthanksthanks for I Spaz With Pizzazz for beta-ing this chapter for me!! 3 And well, I don't think there's anything else to say! Enjoy!

**Credits: **Nah, I only own the Frozen Banana recipe. Ask me if you want it. XDD  
Reviews are welcomed and loved!

WAITWAITWAIT!! Thanks to everyone who reviewed!! Seriously, you all made my heart melt into a gibbering puddle of glee!! Especially luck33ang3l!! THANK YOU FOR THE LONG-ASS REVIEW. x3 It made my week!! They ALL made my week! THANKS!!

* * *

**Chapter Five**

Deidara leaned against the opposite wall to face the pale boy, curiosity getting the better of his words. "I've never seen you before… Do you live on this floor?"

The snake-like man's grin widened, and he tilted his chin forward coolly. "Yes, of course. And you do, as well, though I'm afraid I've never seen you. So you're the transfer student, aren't you?"

The blonde nodded, introducing himself. "Deidara, from Iwa, un. And you?"

"I'm Orochimaru. I'm actually from Oto. A lot of people here are from out of Ame, which isn't too surprising, considering how small it is. But how's Iwa like?"

Hearing genuine wonder in the other man's voice, he was rather amazed that someone would bother to learn about such a dull village. "Pretty stupid," he scoffed, "it's full of small-town stereotypical people, un."

Orochimaru cocked his head, smiling at this. "They didn't understand you, did they?"

The blonde released a cold chuckle. "Not at all, un."

The pale boy sighed in despair. "It's almost as if Ame's the pit for all the outcasts."

Deidara instantly thought of his motley assortment of friends, and a lopsided grin curved his lips. "But we all fit together perfectly, un," he mused. For a reason, he felt comfortable talking about his ostracized life from Iwa, with Orochimaru. It was as if the snake-like boy truly understood the forced exile from society, and perhaps he did.

Instantly warming up to him, the blonde asked curiously, "So why did the people in Oto dislike you?" Just after inquiring, the sculptor regretted. He'd only assumed that Orochimaru had been through that, it wasn't confirmed. He cringed, wondering if he was wrong, and the other boy would take offense from this guess.

Luckily though, he had stabbed correctly, and Orochimaru's bleached lips smiled again appreciatively. "I was really interested in scientific experiments and animal hybrids, so naturally, I tried to recreate such wonders. My few successes frightened the entire village, and that's when I found my true friends. Only they stayed by my side and even came to college with me."

Deidara's azure eye widened in admiration. Friends that dedicated were hard to come by. He was about to ask Orochimaru who these friends were, but then, a shower curtain let out the sound of being pulled back, and he remembered why he was in the bathroom speaking to the pale boy.

The Oto native grinned warmly at Deidara again, before walking to claim the shower as the former user walked by. The blonde blinked as the boy who'd finished, widened his eyes and warily stepped quickly by Orochimaru. He blinked again, then shrugged the strange movement off, and let his mind wander.

**--xoxoxo--**

When Deidara finished his shower, he toweled out his long, golden hair, musing about Orochimaru. He'd seemed a little lost in the world, but trying to find a place and the blonde found a particular sense of harmony with the other boy. Walking from the bathroom, he knocked on his door, tucking the towel under his arm. Tobi opened the barrier, his orange mask radiating joy. "Deidara-sempai!" He squealed excitedly.

"Hey, Tobi, un," he greeted generically, used to his roommate's peppiness by then. Throwing the damp towel on his chair, he flopped onto his bed. "Ugh, I'm tired, un." He muttered, burying his face in his pillow. He felt a sudden weight on his back. "Get off of me, Tobi." He growled, fingers groping blindly for the flashlight on the side of his bed. He swung the tool threateningly at his roommate, hearing a muffled squeak of alarm, but smirking as Tobi fled from his backside. He turned his face, glaring at the black-haired boy. "I'm not your freaking chair, un. Find someone else to sit on."

"But no one else likes Tobi sitting on them!" He whined, falling backwards onto his own bed. Deidara rolled his blue eyes. "I don't exactly appreciate it either, un."

The hyper student drabbled off into a conversation with himself, chirping about slippers, sugar-free gum and telephone polls. Then, a thought occurred to Deidara. His dorm partner would know Orochimaru, wouldn't he?

"Tobi, un. Do you know anyone named Orochimaru?"

"Oro-Who? That sounds like a funny name! Oro-Who, Oro-Who, Oro-Who!"

Deidara cringed, returning his head to the pillow. "Never mind, un. It's just that he seems like a nice guy, and I was wondering if you knew anything about him."

"The name sounds familiar," Tobi admitted, putting a finger to his chin's general area. "I think he's a major in anatomy…"

Deidara frowned, sitting up. "How can you know his major and not his name?"

"Tobi saw an Oro-Who on the anatomy teacher's list of freshmen majors." He informed the blonde somberly.

"Hm. Thanks, un." The blonde shrugged his shoulders, lying back down. Though knowing Orochimaru's major didn't exactly help him with finding out about his personality, it was probably the most he'd get out of Tobi, anyways. Rolling over, he closed his eyes, hoping to get an early sleep, but his roommate began to mumble a nursery rhyme. The blonde felt his mouth twitch involuntarily, and he sat up in bed. "Uhm. I'm going outside, okay?"

The masked boy nodded enthusiastically. "Okey-doke, Deidara-sempai! But be careful of the bank robbers and rapists!"

The transfer student lifted an eyebrow at this, but wordlessly stood and grabbed his room keys, walking away. Closing the door on a repeat of Mother Hubbard, he massaged his temples. He'd need to restock on headache medication soon; at the rate Tobi was giving him the pains.

It was barely nine yet, and as he had nothing better to do, Deidara decided to go find Sasori. The kid could probably do with a break from his monotonous studying. Pressing the elevator button pointing 'down', he rocked on his heels, waiting for the machine to arrive.

When the door opened though, he was again face-to-face with Orochimaru, as well as two other boys.

"Deidara," the black-haired student greeted in surprise.

"Orochimaru, hey." He returned amiably.

"What are you doing?" He asked, inviting the blonde into the elevator, his two friends respectfully moving over to make room for him.

"I was just going to the study on the first floor to see a friend. He studies like a workaholic, un, and I was going to check if I could get him to relax a bit."  
As a blue haired boy with violet lips jabbed the first floor button and the contraption rattled down, Orochimaru let out a laugh. "Workaholic? Well, Kimimaro, Ukon and I are going to take a drive around, so do you want to come with us?"

Deidara hesitated, but shook his head. "No thanks. I'm afraid Sasori's going to die of stress, un."

Orochimaru's golden eyes widened in an emotion. "Your friend is Sasori? Of Akasuna?"

The blonde nodded, supposing 'Akasuna' was referring to the redhead he knew. "Yeah, why, un?"

The black haired man twirled a dark strand around a digit, a smirk curling his lips. "Oh, I just know him pretty well myself." His two friends exchanged a look that escaped Deidara's notice. "I don't know, maybe we'll drop by later if you two are still there?"

The sculptor braced himself as the elevator shakily thudded to a stop. Exiting, he waved to Orochimaru, Kimimaro and Ukon. "Sure, un. If not, then see you tomorrow." Offering a smile, he turned, heading into the study, where he'd, with a tinge of guilt, never set foot in before, except for the one day Tobi had given him a tour of campus.

Pushing the heavy oak door ajar, he peered in, finding his friend with legs curled under him, on the edge of a sofa, the tip of a pen perched on his lips as he flipped through the pages of a large textbook.

"Sasori-san!" Deidara hissed, waving at him when the crimson eyes lazily flitted to him. "C'mere, un."

The only other studying college student looked up in annoyance, glaring poisonously at the blonde. Cowed, he silently gestured for the shorter boy to come to him. Sasori cocked his head questioningly, eyes wide. When Deidara's hand flapped more urgently though, he placed his pen inside the pages, closing the book and following the transfer student out of the room.

"What?"

"You're going to die of stress, un!" He whined, dragging out his 'un'.

A smile crossed the redhead's features at his friend's worrying. "I thought it was sleep deprivation, brat."

Deidara scowled at the less-than-welcome name. "You're a heart attack waiting to happen. And if anyone's a brat out of us, it's you, un. Shortie."

The tease came out before he could think it through, and floods of Hidan's 'short men' speech came back, washing over him like a nausea attack.

"I'm not short," Sasori growled, pausing at Deidara's contorted expression. "Are- are you..?"

The blonde flushed, cleaning away the phrase repeating in his head: _'One crazy good fuck!'_ Grasping for something, he continued. "Er, no, nothing. But… yes, un. You're short." Firmly, he built up a mental dam, keeping the disturbing thoughts at bay.

"No, I'm—" Deidara suppressed a laugh as the redhead fished in vain for a less belittling adjective.

"Short, un." The blonde supplied helpfully.

Sasori sighed in defeat, leaning against the doorframe. "Fine. But was that all you wanted me for?"

"No, actually. Do you want to go someplace?"

The redhead shrugged generically. "Like where?"

Cringing, Deidara realized that he had no idea where they _could_ go. "Uh, I don't know, the cornfield again?"

He lifted an eyebrow. "I thought you chickened last time."

The sculptor huffed in self-defense. "Well, that was before I knew how fun it'd be, un."

"What about the farmer and his farm-hands? We were nearly arrested."

"You handled them well enough, didn't you?"

Sasori rolled his eyes. "Just as long as you don't try to pick me up again."

Grinning at the memory, he wrapped his arms around the redhead again, lifting him off the floor easily. "Like this, un?"

"Put me down, Deidara, or I swear to Kami I'll hit your pressure point," he hissed, glaring down at the smirking blonde, raising two fingers threateningly.

"Aw, but you're so _cute_ when you look mad!" The blonde teased, enjoying his friend's utter humiliation.

"Deidara…" Sasori jabbed his fingers in the direction of the sculptor's neck seriously.

"You wouldn't dare, un." He countered, azure eyes staring up at scarlet.

"Try me, brat." He growled, his digits prodding a spot on the boy's neck.

Letting out a cry of surprise, Deidara fell to the floor, his legs buckling beneath him. "That wasn't my pressure point, you asshole!" He yelped as Sasori fell with an "Oof", on top of him.

"Well of course not, that would've knocked you—Oi, let me go!" He demanded, pulling impatiently at the tanned arms that were tightly wrapped around his waist.

"You wish, Sasori-san," he challenged, locking his appendages around his friend tighter.

"No, I see Hidan coming!" The puppeteer exclaimed, a note of panic in his voice.

"Crap!" Deidara released Sasori as quickly as possible, scooting backwards to dispel any scene that the strange zealot would take for the blonde's advance on his sex advice.

Sitting up on a bench in the lobby, the redhead let out a cackle of triumph. "You're amazingly gullible, though I don't blame you. That horny prick would make the most perverted conclusion out of anything."

"Cheater," Deidara complained, standing up as he dusted himself off.

Sasori shrugged. "Not my fault you'll believe anything."

The blonde pounced then, flying at his friend. "That's cruel though, un!" He argued, sending the redhead on his back as he regained his hold on him.

"And _this _isn't?" He returned, crossing his arms in defeat as he scowled up at Deidara.

"Nope, un." He agreed cheerfully, perching on Sasori's scrawny chest. "Tell me if I'm suffocating you, by the way."

"Thanks for the concern, brat." He grumbled sarcastically.

"Anytime, un." He chirped back.

Just then, the door of the elevator rattled open, Hidan and Kakuzu falling out of the opened barriers, still locked in a kiss. "Ouch, Kuzu," came a smothered mumble.

Deidara sat on Sasori still, frozen, until a small finger prodded him none too kindly in the back. Jumping up, he could feel his face flush over again as Hidan and Kakuzu turned, gaping at him. Well, mostly the albino. And even though he had quickly stood up, Sasori was still struggling upright on the bench, glaring challengingly at the intruders.

"_Whoa_, Blondie!" The Jashinist exclaimed, violet orbs wide in surprise and admiration. "Gettin' it on with Red already? I mean, it was just a suggestion, but—"

"Hidan, shut up, please." Deidara croaked, feeling his ears heat up quickly.

But he continued, as if deaf to the sculptor. "Damn, Kuzu, didja _see_ that shit? Blondie was gonna mount Red! Why didn't _you_ think of somewhere crazy like that when you did me the first time? A lobby bench. Jashin, that's some amazing—"

"Hidan, please shut your oversized mouth for once in your life." Kakuzu demanded, pressing his lips firmly onto his partner's. Waving a hand at them, he herded Hidan outdoors using his mouth, the door closing behind the couple.

Left alone again, Deidara looked sheepishly at Sasori; face still a heavy shade of red. "Well, un. That was awkward."

The puppeteer laughed freely. "Hidan told you about the advantages of my height, didn't he?"

If possible, the blonde's complexion went a shade deeper. "Yes, un."

"He tried to talk to Itachi about it, and he wasn't able to look at me for a month." Sasori chuckled at remembering, his face radiant when a smile was on it, Deidara noticed.

"And it doesn't _bother_ you, un?" He asked incredulously.

"Well, it does bother me that Hidan thinks I'd make a good fuck," he admitted, "but he's got Kakuzu, so he won't try anything, and Itachi's decent, as are you. Anyhow, I think he fancies Kisame."

"So even if I—or Itachi were to…" Deidara wrinkled his nose hopelessly, "_hypothetically_ think that you were _attractive_, you wouldn't mind?"

Sasori shrugged, his gaze traveling to the darkening window. "No, not really. I doubt you and Itachi are like Hidan, who uses his penis to decide things, at any rate."

The blonde laughed at this, thoroughly relieved, though he didn't show it. "So how'd Hidan and Kakuzu get together?"

The redhead sat back on the bench, cocking his head. "Truth is, I really don't want to know. They were roommates, became part of our group, started talking and formed a relationship."

"Lucky match to get each other as roommates, un."

Sasori's eyes stared into the distance. "Very lucky." He agreed quietly. "So anyhow," he moved on, "how's the Pinocchio play going?"

"Meh, it got too complicated and tacky, so I let the other writer, y'know, the one other girl, take over, un. As far as I'm concerned, we're assigning roles tomorrow."

"Any special part you have in mind for yourself?"

Deidara looked at the ceiling. "No, not really, un. I'm new, so I'll just take whatever they dish out to me, un. You?"

Sasori shook his head. "I'm doing the puppets. That's part of Theatre- integrating old with modern arts. Last semester, we did an elongated version of the goat's play from 'The Sound of Music', and I was supposed to make fucking goat sounds. It was hell too, making those buggers."

The sculptor lifted an eyebrow, still impressed. "Your puppets really are amazing though."

The shorter male smirked. "Better than your art, at any rate.

Deidara frowned. "You're such a cocky, arrogant little..! Un! My art is the best you'll find, un!"

"Still able to prove it to me?" Sasori asked tauntingly.

"Definitely, un." He returned confidently, despite having no idea how to do so.

"Well, I'm waiting, brat." He jeered, a note of amusement in his words.

"I—it's coming!" He promised angrily, hating how the redhead could so easily get to him. To take another advantage over him though, Deidara sprang at him again, pinning him to the wall by the shoulders. "Not so cocky now, are you, _brat_?"

"Using your brute strength to win… sick." Sasori smirked at him, though his expression soon faded as Deidara rose higher than him, staring imperiously down at his victim.

"But it works, doesn't it, un?"

"Yes, yes, congratulations, you bullied me into helplessness, now what?"

The blonde paused, stymied by this question. "Er… I could… dammit." But an innovation occurred to him, lighting up his face.

"What now?" The puppeteer asked cautiously, a frown on his lips as he tried to decipher his friend's motives.

Without any warning whatsoever, his hand lunged to Sasori's sides, and he promptly began to tickle the smaller boy, who looked up at him in horror. "What the hell are you doing, Deidara?"

The blonde frowned in surprise as he continued to attack the shorter. "What, you're not ticklish?"

"No, not particularly!"

"Well, crap, un." He sighed, ceasing the tickles. "Is there _anything_ I can do to humiliate you right now?"

The cocky smirk replaced itself on the redhead's lips. "If there were, surely I'd lack the idiocy to tell you about them, though."

The transfer student sighed. "Well, how else am I going to get you in a Zen mode before you die of stress?"

"Tickling is a Zen mode thing?"

"No," he admitted, "but it'd ease your brain before it exploded, wouldn't it?"

"Like your art, am I correct?"

"Yes, but that's not a _good_ explosion, un."

"But… it's your art."

Deidara lightly smacked Sasori's forehead. "Do you _want_ your brain to be art?"

The puppeteer shrugged innocently. "Maybe I _agree_ with your art."

The blonde stared incredulously at the shorter boy. "Not on your life, un."

Another precious smile came over his lips as he shook his head. "You're right," he assented, twisting out of Deidara's hold on him, "and as a side-note, you let your guard down."

"Or maybe I _wanted_ to let you go, un." Their twisting, childish games brought humor to the atmosphere, in all of their hypothetical suggestions and wondering about each others' true motives and thoughts.

"I doubt that, Deidara." But suddenly, as Sasori was facing him, the beautiful grin soon slid away, being replaced by a flat, emotionless, yet quivering line. "I'll see you tomorrow." He quickly slid from view and back into the study room, without offering another word.

"Wha..? Sasori-san!" But as the door of the lobby swung open, he was called back by the sight of Orochimaru, Ukon and Kimimaro.

"Oh? Deidara, was Sasori just here?" The palest student inquired, a mild curiosity about his words as the doors shut after him.

"Yeah, un, but he just left again." He sighed miserably.

"Did you get him to stop studying, though?" Orochimaru asked, something like tender concern in his voice.

"For a little while," Deidara reported, feeling a surge of liking toward the snake-like boy for being so supportive and just as caring to the small redhead.

"That's good, but don't you want to make him retire for the night?"

The blonde nodded vigorously, thoroughly amazed and respecting of how much tact the boy displayed. "But… I don't want to trouble him any more, un. I already pulled him from his studies, and he might have an exam he's preparing for."

"Oh, it should be fine, Deidara. Our Kin informed Zaku that he's quite the studious type as of late, even though nothing is coming up."  
"Your… _your_ Kin?" He asked, a tinge of sickness in his voice.

"Yes, she's one of the friends I told you about, as are these two—" he gestured to Ukon and Kimimaro, who nodded in acknowledgement, "—who stayed long and hard with me from Oto to here."

"Oh," muttered the blonde, slightly resenting the new light in which he saw the girl.

"Anyhow, you want to try and convince your friend to get some rest?"

"Okay, un," Deidara decided, heading towards the room where Sasori had vanished to only a few moments before. As he became aware of Orochimaru and his two companions following, he hurriedly stopped them. "Hey, you guys don't have to come. Really, I don't want to be an inconvenience, un."

Taking the plead, the pale trio hung back. "We'll wait for you and Sasori then."

Nodding in gratitude, the sculptor entered the musty room again, finding the hissy other studier from before fast asleep on her chair, face slumped into her textbook. But she didn't hold his attention for long, with Sasori there. And he was staring at Deidara with wide, scarlet eyes, almost fearful. His knees were tucked up to his chest like the first day the blonde had met him, and his entire body seemed rigid.

"Sasori-san?" He asked carefully, wondering if he was in his paranoid, snappish mood.

"You know Orochimaru?" The redhead asked quietly, a note of caution to his voice.

The sculptor nodded slowly, as the next question was posed.

"And you're… friends with him?"

"Yeah, un. Well, I guess we are. We only met today, but he's so friendly and open, It's hard not to…" He faded off, seeing Sasori's expression. It was stony, bitter and disbelieving, as if he'd heard Deidara spout the most ridiculous fable.

"I'm sorry, Deidara, but I want you to leave." The demand was soft, but still armed with a lethal, cutting steel edge to it.

"What? Sasori-san, what's wrong? Did I do something, un?"

"No," the redhead's arms unconsciously wrapped around his knees, "just go."

"Sasori-san!"

"Please, just leave me alone." This command was the quietest of all, but it was the one filled with the most poison, danger, and _warning_… Shaken, the blonde stammered a few apologies for something he was unaware of, falling backwards out of the door, sapphire eye wide in confusion and misery.

Greeting the waiting Orochimaru, Ukon and Kimimaro with a quick nod, he mumbled something about "Sasori… not happy… no idea…" and went into the elevator without further conversation. His heart threatened to spill over with the raw confusion and self-pity, but it was only when he fell onto his bed, dorm door still hanging open, that he allowed the scores of wondering fill his head.

"Why was he so cold?" He mumbled aloud, dazedly starting at Tobi, sprawled on his stomach in some strange sleeping position. It had been the night after Alien Hunting, when Sasori glared at him so hostilely, before going into his room. But _why_? It'd been right before Orochimaru and his friends' appearances that he'd excused himself. Had the snake-like boy _done_ something to him? But the prospect of the tactful nature he'd discovered, _harming_ someone like Sasori, seemed so odd that he ruled it out, with a tinge of guilt for thinking such ill accusations of his new friend. So perhaps it was Kimimaro or Ukon. They'd seemed like strange, dark people… But Sasori's question came back to him: _"And you're… friends with him?"_

But even _if_ Orochimaru was at blame, why did Sasori have to include Deidara on his list of dislikes? It had been because he'd admitted to being Orochimaru's friend. To hate one so badly to the point of blacking out friends who'd allied themselves with the one hated, Deidara knew the crime should be great. But as to what such trouble Orochimaru could've, _would've_ caused, he was at a loss.

Curling into his pillow, he exhaustedly rubbed a blue eye with the heel of his hand. He'd ask Orochimaru about it the next day then. Hopefully, it was simply a small, insignificant misunderstanding that he'd be able to sort out, and go on with life.

But as he was preparing to shut down his rattling brain, he could feel a dark blush peppering his face again, remembering his encounter with Sasori. He wanted to _kill_ himself for some of the things he'd done, such as _tickling_ the boy, when he wasn't even ticklish. For lack of a better action to do with his hands (besides throttling himself), he sat up, and walked to the door, closing it. Then there was the part with pinning him to the wall… and the lobby bench… and picking him up… Wincing in embarrassment, he clicked the knob locked and unlocked several times. But there'd been the obvious part of it all; deep within his stomach, a tightening, heated feeling when he'd made physical contact with the redhead. And though he scolded himself for perhaps liking someone (and a boy at that, when he hadn't even discovered his sexuality), the scolds were only half-hearted. He didn't give a damn if he turned out to be gay, or if he had school to concentrate on. He'd loved the feeling of being so close to Sasori… one most different from Tobi sitting on him, than bumping into Kakuzu, than having Kisame slap him amiably on the shoulder. "I have a crush on a guy I met less than a month ago." He whispered to no one at all.

And to his shock, Tobi's voice rang out clear in the room. "Who's the lucky guy, Deidara-sempai?"

The blonde flushed again at this. "Er, no one. Uhm, I'm going to sleep now. So… G'night." Flopping into his bed again and burying his face in the pillow, he was dimly aware of Tobi replacing himself in his sleeping position. But Deidara was nowhere near sleep, as another triumphant fact sent his stomach into white hot ecstasy. Sasori never recoiled at his touch while they were in the lobby, and seemed at ease with such close contact from Deidara, whereas others, he gloated, were kept at bay.

**--xoxoxo--**

As the next day rose though, Deidara's small remembrances of triumph during the night came crashing down with the bitter, cold slap of reality. The last thing to occur the previous evening had not been Sasori accepting his touch. It'd been ordering him hostilely to leave him, for reasons yet blank.

He stared pleadingly at the redhead from across the theatre stage, still confused. Sasori hadn't spoke to him since last night, and was avoiding him. Currently, the boy was sitting with another puppeteer, who was excitedly showing him some designs, but it was clear the redhead wasn't listening. His eyes were large, but there was a glazed film over the red irises, and his position was still stiff.

Instead of putting his elbows on his knees in a relaxed, arrogant way that Deidara had become accustomed to, he was sitting cross-legged, hands gripping his knees as if they were his last salvation. Through the beginning of Theatre, he tried desperately to catch Sasori's eyes, but the puppeteer would be careful to avoid looking in his vicinity, determinedly ignoring Deidara.

"Let's start assigning roles, then." Called the voice of Kurenai abruptly.

The blonde looked dully at his teacher, as she called out parts, people desiring the role shouting out their names. The calls eventually subsided, and as Kurenai carefully checked off each pupil's name, she looked up in surprise. "Deidara-kun. You haven't picked a role yet."

He started, his azure eye wide. "Oh, uh, any role's good."

"Be the fairy," someone behind him hissed helpfully. "You're perfect."

Uncaring at the moment, the sculptor shrugged. "Sure, I'll be the fairy, un."

Nodding in satisfaction, the instructor twirled a lock of black hair around her finger. "Alright, we'll have auditions and understudies chosen by the end of the week. This is going very smoothly; I'm pleased."

The large group was then gathered in a circle to read the rough script through, each line loud with all the competitors for the part reading in unison. Deidara was annoyed though, as he stared at the girl next to him, who posed as the only barrier between him and Sasori. Maybe he could ask her to move…

Suddenly, as the redhead's lips parted to speak a puppet's lines, the blonde's heart pounded painfully as he realized how much he already missed that voice speaking to _him_. "Sasori…" He moaned under his breath, wishing he knew why he was so hated and ignored.

Snapping back at himself, he reached a hand down to his calf, pinching it with the utmost masochism and reprimanding manner. His lips pressed into a thin line at the pain, but he still felt he deserved it. "Stop making such a soap opera out of it," he mumbled to himself. "He'll probably come around, like the one night, un." But Kami, Sasori had multiple personalities, if anything.

But through the rest of the ridiculous script, Deidara read in a way devoid of feeling, stealing so many glances at the redhead that the class passed by quickly enough.

As the last line was read, Kurenai happily dismissed her pupils, and the transfer student grabbed his bag as quickly as possible, eager to catch Sasori. He was about to call the redhead's name, but was afraid of the reaction he'd receive. Instead, he ran faster, and as they entered the main hallway, he caught a hold of the shorter boy's shoulder.

"Sa—Sasori-san!"

"Deidara," came the soft voice again, laced with fear and apprehension. "Please go away."

The blonde's brow wrinkled in confusion. "Why, un? Sasori-san, I don't understand."

The redhead wriggled out of the hand, averting his dark, rose-hued eyes. "I can't—you're friends with Orochimaru, I can't…" Seemingly unable to finish what he was going to say, Sasori regretfully but firmly stepped back, rejection clear in his actions as he walked briskly away. But Deidara wasn't done with the fight just yet. Running again, he took the thin shoulder assertively in his grip again.

"Please explain to me, un! Why do you avoid me just because I made friends with Orochimaru?"

With more force than the blonde would've guessed he was capable of, Sasori punched the hand away, sliding from his captor. He glared at Deidara icily, the deepest fear lurking at the back of his eyes, but still present there.

"Why don't you ask him?" He suggested simply, no emotion to it at all. And with that, he turned again, leaving the blonde to gape after him. It was clear that Orochimaru had done something to upset Sasori now, but Deidara wished the redhead would give some hint as to what. His suggestion to ask the snake-like man had been carefully picked clean of any feeling, and was curt and simple, leaving the transfer student to guess.

Sighing in despair, Deidara rubbed his punched hand ruefully. How would he even go about asking Orochimaru? It wouldn't be the most generous thing to interrogate him on his and Sasori's history, but since the latter seemed quite unwilling to talk, it seemed like he had little choice.

**--xoxoxo--**

The redhead sat down on the sofa in the all-too-familiar study room, setting his Anatomy book on his lap. Opening the textbook and uncapping his pen, he started reading the paragraph. But halfway through the page, he looked up, finding it futile to try and concentrate on the lesson.

"Ugh…" He tiredly slammed the tome shut, pen still in between the pages. Placing the book on a table, he trusted that no one would bother taking such a battered, third-hand copy of it, and walked out of the dorm building.

Breathing in the humid, rainy air, he strode towards the college garden, his head lowered to the pavement as he avoided the glances from classmates. With the midday sun beating a hot rhythm on his neck, he felt as if eyes were gleaning into him, picking at his bones. Shivering despite the heat, he looked about him in tense paranoia, burgundy eyes flashing. He quickened his pace, falling into a more relaxed state only when he was surrounded by the trees and shrubs of the garden, unable to lay hostile hands on him. He passed a passionately kissing couple on the bridge over the flooding creek, ducking his head lower to fend off their attention.

He needed a place to think, and it would only be in his quaint thorn bush that he'd be able to do so. The long, outstretched brambles of the ill-kempt plant easily caught his gaze, and scanning the area for any passerby, he carelessly pulled a branch away, ignoring the slight, warm trickle of blood that trailed down his wrist when a few thorns roughly penetrated his skin.

The redhead crawled into the small space, picking the studs of thorns from his palm without blinking. As the blood flow quickened, he absently stemmed the rush against the sleeve of his hoodie, the stinging burn of the cuts bouncing off of him. Now that he was in a suitable environment, he let his gaze travel through the sharp netting of the thorn bush as his thoughts churned.

There was Deidara, of course. Yesterday, in the lobby, Sasori had surprised even himself. No one, even before Orochimaru, had ever touched his person so boldly and been accepted. In the blonde's presence, he'd forgotten that what the snake did to him meant such similar, close physical contact. Deidara had a gentle air about him though, that firmly set the line between his touch and Orochimaru's, and it was as if he promised Sasori that no real harm would come to him.

The new student was genuinely kind and meant no ill intention. He felt that. But if the snake had already gotten to him… Orochimaru was a master at contorting mind games, and would poison Deidara as he had done to everyone else he'd dragged from Oto. He had already portrayed himself as the lost, misunderstood soul with barely a friend who understood him, and won the innocent transfer student to his side. To convince the blonde into helping him with his crime would only be a mild challenge.

Sasori knew he was in no position to stop Orochimaru and try to convince Deidara of the truth. The snake's façade was too tragic, too winning. It would be a simple matter of time, before the Iwa native would be lost to him, and waste no hesitation in betraying Sasori. The redhead was regretful, though, that he was forced to sever bonds with the only one he'd trusted, and in such a short time, too. But he didn't want to play the fool and expose yet more of his weaknesses to Deidara. Orochimaru was too strong for him, and was quickly bringing his entire life down before his wide eyes. Sasori wondered how long it'd be, before his foundation was cracked.

**--xoxoxo--**

"Orochimaru, un!"

He waved urgently at the pale boy as he caught sight of him. He'd just gotten out of pottery, and had worked up enough mental courage to ask him about Sasori, and it seemed an encouraging omen to suddenly find his target there.

"Yes, Deidara?" He asked kindly, turning around to face the blonde.

"I need to ask you something… about Sasori, un."

"I'll try my best to help," he offered.

"Well, he seems a little… upset, un, since I told him I befriended you, and now he's really distant. He says that he can't be around me since I'm your friend now, and I have no idea why, un. Do you—do you have an idea why he might dislike you-- me that much?"

His desperation to know leaked out of his words, and it mortified him to be so blunt to his friend, but he feared there was no subtler way for him to ask while in his frenzied state of mind. To his relief, Orochimaru didn't appear offended, and only pursed his bleached lips thoughtfully.

"I don't recall anything that I might've done to wound him… Well, I did beat him on an exam that he was studying so hard for… Perhaps that was it?"  
Deidara shook his head vigorously. "No way, un. Sasori isn't one to care _that_ much about academic grudges. Er, have you ever touched him in a way that freaked him out? I know he's really paranoid about that. Even something stupid, un, like accidentally brushing against him," he hurried to explain, "and it was just a huge misunderstanding."

Shaking his head solemnly, Orochimaru tried again. "I'm sorry; I've never brushed up against him or touched him accidentally in any way. Isn't that why he snaps at people? When they get too close to him?"

The blonde fought the blush threatening to spill over his cheeks, knowing that he was the exception. "Well, thanks, un," he mumbled a little dejectedly. "I just can't figure out… why he hates me."

"Oh, I'm sure he doesn't _hate_ you, Deidara," the pale boy soothed, placing a comforting hand on his shoulder. "Maybe he just needs some time to come around. And sorry, but I should go to my next class now. Tell me if you need any help, and I'll try not to waste your time."

"Yeah… thanks a lot, though," he sighed, waving at his leaving friend. He doubted that the Oto boy was lying, and it seemed so unlikely anyhow… So who was at fault in reality then: Orochimaru, or Sasori?


	7. Concept

**A/N: **OH MY GOD I KNOW I'M STILL ALIVE 8D I'm really sorry! It took me three months longer than it should've to get this up... D: Gah, but I'm doing Big Brothers Big Sisters, and high school is eating me alive, and I'm on the newspaper and Key Club and gaaahh, I'm feeling very frayed. But I'm not supposed to be complaining here. XD I have no excuse. I suck at life. Anyhow, please enjoy this latest installment!! I love all you readers!

**Credits: **I _wish_ I owned Sasori's ass. Oh, _how I wish._

* * *

**Chapter Six**

Sasori's eyes snapped open in alarm while he took in his surroundings, which consisted of greenery and brambles. He sat up abruptly, the side of his face and his ears being attacked by the thorns immediately. "Fuck!" He seethed painfully, cradling his head gingerly, fingers flying to his ear. He hissed as he felt the broken skin, but no more blood from the new wound. Glaring around him, he could see that the sun had revealed itself in the sky. Thank Kami it was a weekend… How long had he been out? Apparently, he'd fallen asleep out here. He had to hurry back to the dorm and find Deidara, to fix things.

It didn't mean anything that he was Orochimaru's friend—the blonde would never turn on him. He was strong. And while Sasori crawled out of the thorns and ran back to the dorm building, he chanted the words over again in his head: 'He's strong, he's strong, he's strong.'

The scenery flew by him but he paid no attention to it, running over the small streets and barely missing a blue sedan that threatened to hit him. In record time, he ran into the wall of the building, mumbling a muffled "Ow," as his already-bruised face collided in the rough bricks. Gingerly removing himself from the unforgiving wall, he shifted into the dorm, and not bothering with the slow elevator, he turned to the stairwell, pushing the door to the steps open.

Quickly scaling them, he made it to the fourth landing, sighing as he stared at the door leading into his corridor. With a feeling of finality, he shoved it open, the scent of heavy hair gel wafting to him from the bathroom. Wrinkling his nose slightly, he let the door bang shut after him. What was Hidan doing up this early?  
Just then, the albino appeared out of the bathroom as if cued, violet eyes reguarding Sasori skeptically. "Where the hell were you all morning? And what the fuck happened to you?"

The redhead blinked, remembering the abuse he'd put his face through that morning. "Oh, uh, accident. What time is it?"

Hidan shrugged, examining a cut of his own on his forearm. "Eh, past eleven. So where were you?"

Maybe it wasn't that early then… "In the garden," he supplied generically. "Thanks, Hidan." Without further conversation, he ran the rest of the way down the hall, barely stopping in front of Deidara and Tobi's room. He twisted the knob, quickly pushing it in, mouth ajar to speak. But his eyes grew in shock at the three occupants of the room. Tobi was sitting awkwardly on his own bed, fidgeting with a glove, and Deidara was on his with another boy that Sasori recognized as Kimimaro, Orochimaru's right-hand minion.

The white haired student and the blonde were sitting so _comfortably_ with each other, as if merely _chatting_… Any former feeling of regret in him instantly evaporated as Kimimaro gave him a dark, knowing look, as if sinisterly mocking him. The redhead's eyes slit and he hissed at the green-eyed boy, quickly darting past Deidara without making any acknowledgement, to seize Tobi's hand. "Tobi," he asked, urgently requesting the masked student's company.

In surprise, the orange mask lifted to face the puppeteer. "Sasori-san?" But he obligingly stood up and followed Sasori out into the hallway, casting a look of pure innocence and confusion to Deidara.

Once in the corridor, the redhead opened his mouth to speak again, but glared at the door he'd just snapped shut. "Can you come with me?" He pleaded of the black-haired, excitable boy.

"Of course!" Tobi chirped, clapping his hands, obviously glad to be free from the awkward feeling of being disincluded. He hopped after the redhead, who returned to the stairwell, the most private place he could think of to talk in. Luckily for him, Sasori was far too stressed and confused to care much about his obnoxious jumping antics.

When the heavy door slammed after Tobi, the redhead immediately turned around, an impatient gleam in his eyes that terrified the masked boy. "What the hell?" He barked angrily, pacing the landing in a half-hearted attempt to release his fury. "Why was Kimimaro with Deidara?"

"Tobi saw Deidara-sempai talking on phone with the scary guy, and then he came to our room."

Sasori scowled to himself. "So now he has all their numbers so he can get all warm and friendly." Gritting his teeth, he continued in his pondering. "But _why_ was he talking with that bastard?" He asked, none of his questions answered yet. "What were they talking about?"

Tobi hesitated, before replying slowly. "Well… Deidara-sempai wanted to know what happened between Sasori-san and Oro-someone."

Sasori froze mid-pace, the look of utmost horror crossing his face. "Wha—what?"

The black-haired teen amended quickly, "But Tobi thinks he was worried about Sasori-san!"

The redhead glared at the ground, his speed picking up. "Can you remember anything they said?"

Tobi rolled his head to one side, obviously trying to recall as much as he could. "Well… At first, they just talked about some classes they were taking, but then Deidara-sempai asked if Sasori-san had done anything to offend Oro—"

He was interrupted by a loud shout of indignation from the puppeteer, his crimson eyes livid. "_Me_?" His voice trembled with thrown-away trust and badly maintained calm. "Because of _course_ Orochimaru's just too goddamn fucking innocent, so nothing could _ever_ be his fault!" He kicked the wall furiously, not caring that his foot ached after the lash.

Tobi made as if to try and reconcile the agonized redhead, but after seeing him spit out a string of more inappropriate words and kick a few more walls, he shrank back, deciding against it.

Just then, the door to the stairwell groaned open, and Sasori's eyes flared with hatred. "_Fuck off, brat!_" He snarled, glaring at the startled blonde.

Deidara blanched, stepping backwards hastily. "Sasori-san, un, what the hell's going on—"

"I told you to _fuck off_!"

A pale hand placed itself gently on the blonde's shoulder. "I'll handle this," assured a reptilian voice.

The redhead froze, his eyes exposing a cold emotion before it was swallowed up by rage again.

"Sasori" Orochimaru murmured, standing beside Deidara, spreading his hands amiably. "What's wrong? We heard you shouting at poor Tobi from the corridor, and it sounds as if you have something to say to me."

The crimson orbs slit dangerously, before flicking to the blonde. He could tell everything here… Deidara would believe him, wouldn't he? But instantly, he knew that nothing would convince the sculptor, as long as he still considered himself friends with Orochimaru. And the snake knew this too—he knew that Sasori wouldn't dare tell anyone of the truth, not with his threat still hanging there. No matter how much he needed freedom, he couldn't risk Deidara. Even though he _hated _the blonde… he couldn't give him the snake's sentence.

His gaze shifted to Tobi, and he growled deep in his throat. Hating himself for endangering too many, he turned quickly, and to escape those knowing, golden eyes, he descended the stairs, running away as fast as possible.

**--xoxoxo--**

Kakuzu blinked in surprise as he saw a blur of red pass him on the sidewalk. "Sa… sori?" But the other boy had already turned the corner, into the direction of the Arts building. Instead of shrugging as he normally would've, the man turned his bright emerald eyes to their dorm building, an unsettled feeling growing in his chest. He hefted his backpack higher onto his shoulder, making his way into the lobby. Self-consciously, he lifted the mask higher on his face, a bad habit he had without Hidan around.

Opening the door of the stairwell, he slowly ascended the steps, finding this method of travel much better than his lover's preferred, noisier elevator. On the fourth floor, he pushed the door away, lifting an eyebrow as the door to Sasori's room just clicked shut. Creepy-ass roommate… Finding nothing else worth noting, he entered his own room, a slightly new sight in front of him.

Deidara was repeatedly smashing his head onto the wall, mumbling out incoherent words, while Hidan sat on his bed, watching in amusement. Kakuzu silently gestured to the angry blonde, asking for some form of explanation from his boyfriend.

The albino merely shrugged, a half-smile curled on his lips.

"Stupid, fucking, no idea, confused, dammit, ugly, anti-social, asshole," Deidara could be vaguely heard chanting in between head bangs.

Kakuzu delicately removed the cloth from his face, the mask being slipped into his pocket. "Who's he talking about?" The emerald-eyed man muttered to his roommate in curiosity, sitting down next to him.

"No fuckin' clue," he replied contentedly, leaning his head on Kakuzu's shoulder.

"Deidara!" The tanned student barked out. The blonde turned around, rubbing his red forehead pitifully.

"What the hell is _wrong_ with you?"

The newest college student sighed, slumping against the wall in a state of exhaustion. "I don't know."

"Who were you yelling at?"

"I don't know, un." He repeated, starting to bang the back of his head against the wall.

Hidan leapt forward, seizing Deidara's long ponytail. "Stop killing your fucking brain cells," he shouted, yanking the blonde upright. When the shorter student didn't even whine in complaint, he started shaking the clump of hair roughly. Deidara scowled at his assaulter, prying his mane from his friend's sadistic grip.

"Not like you're _saving _any that way, un."

"So what's wrong?" Hidan demanded, sitting back down beside his lover.

"I'm so confused, un," the sculptor groaned, "about Sasori-san."

A malicious smile flew onto Hidan's face. "Ooh, how so?" He was rewarded by a sharp glare from the blonde and a smack from Kakuzu.

"What happened?" The black-haired boy asked the distressed artist, with more tact than his partner had offered.

"It's just Sasori," he admitted painfully, his face twisting into a contortion of agony. "Like this morning. I was just sitting with Kimimaro talking, un, and then he bursts into the room and grabs _Tobi_, and then runs off, then Orochimaru-san and I go to the stairwell because we can hear him screaming, and then he sees us and runs off again, _un_!"

Kakuzu gave an unsatisfied smirk. "That was extremely abridged, Deidara."

The blue eyes narrowed at green, and the boy sighed again. "Well, the point is that Sasori-san keeps having a spasm attack or something whenever he sees me now, and it's… weird."

"He probably _loves_ you." Hidan drawled happily, resting his chin in his palms.

Deidara looked at the albino slowly, before wordlessly returning to Kakuzu. "Does he have any problems like that?"

"Hey, you fucking ignored me!" The Jashinist whined, a childish pout on his face. The pout only grew as his lover continued to converse with Deidara, also choosing to ignore him.

"He gets mood swings a lot. I'd swear he was bipolar, but then again…"

"What, un?" The blonde eagerly asked, his azure eye wide.

Kakuzu crossed his legs, contemplating. He slowly dragged his fingers through his curtain of ebony hair, musing. "He stopped going back to a lighter mood sometime, and just… got stuck in his depressed mood. It's been a while now, so I wonder…"

Deidara fidgeted in anticipation, wondering fervently if the green-eyed man was doing this excruciatingly slow explanation on purpose. "_Un_?"

"It was the day you arrived that he swung into depression. And stayed there."

The blue eyes widened again, his mouth flattened in dismay. "Wh-what? You think he really dislikes me?"

Here, Hidan entered the conversation again, standing up next to Deidara, throwing a friendly arm around his shoulders. "Nah, he doesn't hate you. When he hates you, you're fucked. Like the time he put fuckin' laxative and something else into my dinner. Jashin, I had to throw up and take a shit at the same time."

The blonde cringed, more unwanted pictures invading his head. "_Why_ do you constantly fill my brain with the most awkward scenes?"

The zealot shrugged. "But you've still got your stomach intact, so he doesn't hate you, anyhow."  
"Then why does he practically run for cover every time he sees me?" He asked, unsatisfied.

Hidan and Kakuzu exchanged a glance, both their brows lifted in amusement. "That's certainly not what it looked like last night, Blondie."

Deidara blushed, the heat engulfing his entire body in mortification. "It was _nothing_ like you and your perverted mind thought it was, un!"

The albino smirked in triumph, basking in his evidence. "Last I checked, you don't sit on somebody's stomach unless you're about to fuck 'em senseless. And they don't just sit there, _waiting_ to be fucked senseless, unless they like you. Which returns to the point before."

"So why does he avoid Deidara today?" Kakuzu asked challengingly. The blonde cast a look of relief to the black-haired man, relieved to be hearing lucid conversation again.

"Go ask him, Blondie! How stupid can you be?"

The blonde's mouth twitched in annoyance. "I have no idea where he ran off to, un. Don't think I haven't already considered that. He knows campus a hell lot better than I do."

Kakuzu stood up, striding to the door. Opening it, he ordered, "I saw him going to the Arts building. He's probably taking out his angst on a shit-scary puppet again. Go."

Deidara's face lit up in joy. "Thanks, un. I'll try to talk to him, but if I get speared by an X-Acto knife, I'm blaming you!" He ducked his head to the taller man in gratitude before sprinting out the door, his mood considerably lighter.

"He's bipolar too, isn't he?" Hidan asked his boyfriend from his seat on the floor. Kakuzu shrugged, slyly closing the door before turning around to face his lover.

"I dunno, but that's beside the point right now…" Joining the albino, he slid his tan hands under the shirt, lips quickly ensnaring the other's.

"Mm, Kuzu…"

**--xoxoxo--**

He ran his pale fingers along the wall, nails scritching softly as they traced the grooves between the bricks. The Arts building was quiet and empty, no one working in it on the weekend. Sasori bit his lip, crimson eyes searching the ground for an answer. He slowly climbed the stairs, going to the woodshop room, his footsteps loud and echoing in the silence.

Then, he could hear another set of steps heading in his direction. They were brisk and urgent, and at first, he thought that it was Deidara, a jolt of alarm in his chest. But as they grew closer, he could distinguish the familiar clacking noise associated with high heels. Just as he reached the top of the staircase, he came face-to-face with none other than the Theatre director, Kurenai.

He opened his mouth to utter a polite greeting, but was stopped by the tight, miserable look on her features. 'How are you' suddenly seemed like an extremely ridiculous inquiry. "Kurenai-sensei?"

Her ruby eyes met his briefly, before she replied. "I was hoping to find you here, Sasori-kun. If you could come with me."

He hesitated, a longing look in his orbs as he glanced forward at the woodshop room.

"It's urgent," she pressed, her voice strained. The redhead nodded slowly, a sensation of fear growing in his stomach. He grew conscious of his breathing, loud and conspicuous, and as Kurenai walked back out of the building, he tried to follow without falling behind. What was he needed for? Had they found out about Orochimaru? He looked around him quickly, paranoia filling his mind. If that was the case, he needed a cover-up. But who could've told, and how had they found out? Sasori clenched his jaw, terror consuming him. He could run—but that wouldn't hold off any consequences. He winced, hating his predicament.

Then again, it didn't even have to be that… There were plenty of plausible reasons he'd be summoned. Maybe he was failing chemistry. '…Although that wouldn't be too good, either.' But having found a separate excuse for himself to be making this trip, he felt considerably relieved. "Where are we going?" He asked, regaining his voice.

"The president's building." She answered curtly, her tone too carefully held emotionless.

"What for?" He asked, the dread regrowing.

"That's not my place to tell you."

Sasori blinked, taken aback by this. Why would the president want to see him? But he obediently followed his instructor, breath shortening again as unconsciously rubbed his upper arms, as if trying to erase the claw marks that marred the skin underneath the fabric.

When the two entered the main building, he shivered again, inhaling the sanitized scent that flooded the entire facility. The halls were empty, as if anticipating his company. The redhead frowned down at his tattered hoodie, feeling too messy for this part of campus. He lifted a hand to try and comb his unruly hair, but halted when Kurenai stopped in front of a oak door, knocking softly a few times.

An elderly man's voice bleated out, "Come in," in a soft, kindly voice. Sasori's eyes flitted up to the sign above the door, reading 'Guidance' before he was gently ushered into the room by Kurenai. His throat constricted, and worry grew again.

The man at the desk was a caring figure, with crinkled, blue eyes under a balding white head, the stereotypical grandfather. But it was the crisp suit and polished glasses perched on his dark nose that protested otherwise, though the kindness still hung around his existence.

The redhead bit back a grimace, feeling out of place in this environment, tainted and dirtied.

The man held forth a leathery hand, introducing himself. "Akasuna no Sasori. My name Kawamoto–sensei, but feel free to simply call me Yashiro. I'm one of the guidance counselors on campus, and it's been brought to our attention recently—"

"It's fine, it's all voluntary!" He blurted out, a tremble rising in his voice as he tried to stop what was coming.

The old man frowned in confusion, jilting back. "You mean to say-- Are you sure we're talking about the same topic, Sasori?"

The student nodded hesitantly, before shaking his head ashamedly. Kurenai placed a calming hand on his shoulder, and he took this as a gesture to shut up and allow the counselor to finish speaking.

"Well," Yashiro continued, threading his fingers together and putting his interlaced hands on the desk. "We've gotten some very bad news…"

Sasori shifted uncomfortably in his seat, a prickling feeling rising on his neck. The counselor took his time straightening the glasses on his nose before clearing his throat in the same meticulous manner, and the redhead wished fervently that Yashiro could just spit it out instead of trying to be tactful.

"We've received the word that your grandmother, Chiyo-san, is deceased as of yesterday night."

There was a tainted moment of fixed silence, before a weak exhale escaped Sasori's lips. "Are—are you sure? This is- it can't…" But as each word parted him, the truth fell harder and harder.

He was barely conscious of Kurenai carefully rubbing his shoulder in a motherly way and of Yashiro politely keeping his gaze down. He shrugged off his Theatre instructor's hold, only panic left in him. "What do I do?" He asked, terror in his tone. He'd already been orphaned once before, he didn't know if he could take it again.

"Of course, there's her funeral…" Sasori felt his throat seize at the word, and he breathed in a ragged breath. "Then there's also the matter of your tuition and the cost of her apartment still to pay off, but we'll cover part of your tuition now since you're an orphan. What we want is just for you to relax about finances. Don't worry about those just yet. Concentrate on your grandmother's memory now, alright? I know this must be a lot of pressure for someone so young like you to take, but we'll help you along the way."

The redhead felt as if he were supposed to reply sometime, but Yashiro continued speaking in a nonstop babble, leaving no room for speech. Finally, he had time to ask. "How did she—die?"

Again, the counselor slowly propped his glasses onto his nose. "From what the medics could see, she was suffering from a blood clot for a while now, and it was yesterday that it became too much."

Sasori clutched his abdomen in guilt. While he was worrying about Deidara, his grandmother had been unknowingly dying. Yashiro seemed to sense his distress, because he soothed, "Sasori, this isn't your fault. No one could've known."

The boy didn't reply, only moving to hold his head between his hands quietly, keeping back the choked questions and howls of frustration.

The guidance counselor sat back in his chair, unthreading his fingers. "We don't want you to be too stressed at one time, so this is it for now. If you wish to be excused from your classes today, that's perfectly fine. The burden of a parent figure's death is not an easy one to hold."

Sasori nodded slowly, still lost in his trance of horror. Unsteadily, he stood up from his chair, eyes wide in dismay. His world just kept falling apart, piece by piece. Without bothering to bid good-bye, he walked out of the door, feeling Yashiro's eyes still on him. As soon as the door swung shut on his heel, he leaned against the wall, feeling drained of all his energy. Kurenai kneeled in front of him, her ruby eyes glancing over him in worry. "Sasori, do you need anything?"

The boy inhaled in a tremble, the earth spinning too rapidly for him to keep focus. "I'm fine." He struggled out.

The black-haired woman looked at him sadly, her mouth slanted in pity. "Do you want to skip your classes today?"

Sasori pulled his weight from the wall, turning away. "Yes, please." He requested quietly. Although he couldn't see it, Kurenai nodded in agreement.

"I'll tell your other professors then." With this final note, no further conversation was crossed between them, and the redhead blindly made his way out of the main building.

Stepping into the bright sun, he ducked his head, slowly staggering to his dorm. He passed scores of classmates, all staring at him strangely. He couldn't blame them, he knew he looked the worse for wear. Lost in his trance, he didn't notice the pounding of feet behind him, and froze in terror as a long hand drew around his elbow.

"Sasori-san." He shuddered at the sound of his name and tried to yank his arm away, but Deidara's grip was not loose. "I don't know what's wrong, but it's obviously not good, un. I don't like seeing you bothered, so if it's about me, just tell me what it is. Please be as blunt as you want, un."

While the shorter had stopped moving, his hand had unconsciously slackened, and as soon as he opened his mouth to speak again, the redhead struggled away, not a sound escaping him. He knew that if he looked at the blonde now, heard him speak another word, he would break down.

Having no goal of destination, he simply ran, to burn away the tears wanted to surge up from the coils of his beating heart. He didn't want to think about his dead grandmother, but her wrinkled, softened face refused to go away. He ground his teeth furiously, wondering what she would say to him, knowing that he allowed himself to be puppeted, when it should've been he controlling the strings.

She would bark at him for not living up to the Akasuna title and overpowering all, for letting someone else weaken him. A low shudder wracked his running body, remembering every night, so vivid and much sharper than the daytime, where he wanted his memories to dwell instead.

"Chiyo-baa," he muttered, crimson eyes fogged over in pain, "I wish I could've told you."

**--xoxoxo--**

Deidara growled in aggravation as Sasori disappeared. How could he possibly chase him when it was clear the boy wanted to be alone? He wanted to protect the boy, help him however possible, but this was impossible with the redhead acting this way. There had to be a way to make the other boy listen to him, at least to hear his case. He only had to find the right setting.

His muse was broken rudely then, by Hidan running screaming, out from the dorm building he'd obviously been spying from. "Failure! Failure! You're a Jashin-forsaken _failure_!" Kakuzu followed coolly behind, arms crossed and eyes half-lidded in that arrogant way of his. Deidara groaned at their appearance, smacking his head into his palm.

"And you were trying to rape the kid, too!" Hidan indicted, violet eyes deranged as he pointed an accusatory finger at the blonde.

"I grabbed his elbow, un." The sculptor huffed, annoyance clear in his voice.

But the albino was fixated on anything that included sexual activity between Deidara and Sasori, and he broke off into a disturbing rant about how Jashin would damn Deidara to hell with a one-way ticket there for attempting to rape.

The blonde painfully resisted the urge to sob out loud, pleadingly glancing at the silent Kakuzu.

The quiet man smirked, apologizing. "Excuse him. He's always a little tipsy after sex."

Hearing his partner, Hidan shut up, glaring violently at Deidara. "Blondie, I swear to Jashin, if you mention _one word_ about _abstinence_, I'm gonna shove another stick up your ass to join the one you already have up there, do you understand?

The new college student nodded innocently, before speaking as if he had changed the subject. "Hidan, are you celibate from marriage, un?"

"Of course no- what? Yes, yes, I am." The albino seethed at Deidara, already having fallen into the trap. "And," he attempted to cover, "Jashin forbids us to marry. So your abstinence shit is just useless fuckery. He encourages us to screw, but _discourages marriage_, so we can screw freely." This answer was received by a loud, cold slap from Kakuzu. "Fuckin' hell!"

"You'll screw freely with other people the day your Jashin-sama becomes a Christian martyr, Hidan."

The silver-haired man's face drew into distress, and he tried to hug his lover, but was rudely swatted off. "Kuzu-chan, you know I would never screw with anyone else while you were around—"

"'the fuck's _that_ supposed to mean?" Kakuzu barked out in a demanding tone.

"As long as you live, you're the only one I'd ever want to screw with!" The albino pleaded pitifully.

Instead of replying verbally, the taller man roughly seized Hidan's chin and grabbed him into a violent kiss. It was quick but to the point, and when the smaller pulled away with a heavy flush on his heated face, he muttered darkly, "I feel like I'm in an abusive relationship."

"You are. Don't you ever dare do anything with anyone else."

"So are you two planning on being together the rest of your lives, un?" Deidara asked, feeling slightly better now that he was working on another problem that didn't concern Sasori in any way.

Hidan scowled at the sculptor, nodding reluctantly, as it was obvious where he was going to lead next.

"So get married! It'll make your sex that much better, un."

"Blondie. Cemetery. Now."

Deidara spluttered in objection, his azure eye wide in shock. "You're telling me to go die? I'm trying to keep you two faithful, un." He fumed, feeling offended.

Hidan rolled his amethyst eyes, grabbing the blonde's ponytail again. "No," he snarled, pulling the hair back and forth, ignoring his victim's furious shouts of protest. "I mean that's where your fuck toy is. Go and leave us alone, you pansy-assed, abstinence-obsessed little fucker!"

"My _fuck-toy_—oh kami, not Sasori—"

The albino yanked Deidara's hair harder, earning another yelp of pain. "I said go, you motherfucker!"

"You saw, un. He won't even talk to me."

"You gotta stand intimidating. Like you don't give a shit."

"But I _do_ give a shit." The blonde mourned sadly, wincing as his scalp began to ache.

"You're in Theatre, aren't you?" Kakuzu interjected. "Act."

Deidara exhaled sharply. "It's not that easy, un. He won't even hang around to hear what I'm saying."

The Jashinist politely released the ponytail, strands of gold sticking to his palm. "Here. What if you go and try, okay? If that doesn't work, I'll talk to him, to see if it's just you."

The blonde brightened considerably at this offer. "Thanks! That's a really good idea, un. So, campus cemetery?"

Hidan nodded in agreement.

"Why the cemetery though? I mean, shouldn't he only have one place he constantly goes to? At first, I thought it was the garden, then he made me think it was the Art building instead, and—"

"Stop stalling, wiseass!" The rude albino shouted, unceremoniously shoving his friend toward the burial grounds.

The new student grumbled something in dissent, lifting a hand behind him in farewell. He lightly wondered about how Hidan and Kakuzu were always so eager to get rid of him.

**--xoxoxo--**

Sasori let out a low gasp of pain as his head was forced back against the brick wall, the long tongue greedily feasting on his exposed neck. He lifted his hands to push Orochimaru off of him, but was caught by the snake's quicker grip.

The assaulter had never so publicly done this, at least, not outside their room and in open daylight. The redhead's eyes hopefully flitted to the mouth of the alleyway, his heart sinking as he saw no one there. Deidara had such _perfect_ timing; always there when Sasori went insane at the sight of him, but never there when he was desperately needed.

His breathing hitched as the pale man pressed the mouth onto his own, forcing his way into his lips. Sasori withered against the wall, terror building up again. Orochimaru wouldn't rape him now, would he? The redhead fought to free his hands from his attacker's, finding to his surprise, that he was able to.

Snarling, he pushed at Orochimaru's shoulders, struggling to throw the larger man off of him. The taller stood back, looking down in unsmiling amusement. "You never stop fighting, do you?" He breathed, tracing a long finger around his prey's face. The younger boy shuddered, glaring at Orochimaru in revulsion. He hissed in hatred and some fear, as he was enveloped quickly by the lithe, pale arms. "Just don't speak to anyone about our relationship, and I can promise this is as bad as it'll ever get for you."

"I wasn't _planning _to tell anyone," the redhead spat from within his confinement.

"Weren't you about to tell Deidara-chan?"

There was a slight pause, before he answered scathingly, "No. Not that _prick_."

"You know, he loves you, Sasori," the snake hissed tauntingly, tightening his hug on the small boy. A cruel smirk twisted his white lips as he felt his victim go rigid, absorbing this.

"No he doesn't." He countered stiffly, starting to wriggle again as he found discomfort in the topic.

Orochimaru released him then, the same leer still on his face. "I saw you two in the lobby. He wasn't just being a friend. He wants to know why you're so upset, and I trust you're not fool enough to tell him." He briefly put a finger on Sasori's cold lips, before turning heel and striding out of the alley.

The redhead leaned against the brick wall, seething and shivering at the constant humiliation he was consumed by. Every odd was against him, from his being roomed with a sadistic manipulator, to Deidara continuing to side with the very core of the problem he so frenetically worried about.

Exhaling, he straightened up, and decided to try and forget what had happened just then. Roughly wiping at his tainted mouth, he walked on with his original course.

As he made his way down the narrow campus streets, he approached the cemetery with a growing feeling of peace. There were places everywhere on the college grounds where he found certain peaces- the garden, his woodshop room, and here. He knew that everyone was aware of these places, but he had friends tactful enough to leave him alone. 'Except for Deidara…_' _But he knew well enough that it wasn't lack of tact that compelled the blonde to follow; it was the abundance of, which his other friends didn't have.

Walking slowly through the rows of plain tombstones, he read each one over, saying it before actually reading the inscribed name. He'd long ago memorized the first few rows of the names, having treaded around their buried bodies so many times before. There were old professors, respected deans, students who'd died too young, and other people who'd simply wished to be laid to rest in Ame's college cemetery. They were all from different languages and backgrounds, but they rolled off his tongue alike.

"Tsuki Yuri. Lynsy Courtney. Sakana Hana, Kaylin Sprïech, Neiko Keitaro, Viktoria Meile, Wataro Denji, Seyu Goro." But as he tried to pass away the time until the sun rendered the words undistinguishable, he found himself further than he'd ever walked. The names started to blur in his memory, and he struggled to remember, until the names were entirely new. He stopped walking, closing his eyes. He usually solved his problem by this time. Actually, by the third row, he would've already known what to do.

He mulled the English names over carefully. "Julie Dahlberg… Emilie Miku, Anthony David, Tsubaki Chi—" His throat tightened as he stared at the tombstone in numb grief. "Chiyo-baa," he choked, kneeling slowly before Tsubaki's grave. He meditatively traced a finger over the kanji for Chiyo, wondering if this girl had been anything like his grandmother. He was a fool for having come here. He should've expected that, as the deaths reached further in time, he'd stumble across a Chiyo eventually.

For the first time since he'd been informed of her death, he allowed the tears to finally singe his eyes, but dared not let them spill, fearing that they wouldn't be able to stop if he let the first one fall. He bit his lower lip hard, stemming the flow that pleaded to pour from his eyes. He carefully lifted a sleeve to absorb the water in his eyes, but a dry sob fled his throat reguardless.

A quiet voice interrupted the frail silence. "Sasori-san?"

He looked around in alarm, staring at the blonde boy who was standing behind him.

"I'm sorry about earlier. I know that was really rough, un, but… I honestly just want to know what's wrong."

The redhead ducked his head, wishing he could cut the association between Deidara and Orochimaru. But as long as the sculptor trusted the snake, he himself could not be trusted either. Anyhow, it was clear in the pale man's demands that no one be told, and there was no doubt that he would carry out the consequences without mercy.

When he didn't reply, Deidara carefully put a hand on his shoulder, but quickly took it back as the redhead shrugged in dissent. "Sasori…"

"My grandmother died yesterday." He admitted shortly. There was a poisoned silence after those words before Deidara walked around in front of him and stooped, so they were looking at each other face-to-face.

"I'm sorry, un… I know that sounds so fake and overused, and that you think I could never actually understand, but… I really am sorry, un."

"No, I appreciate it." The redhead replied stiffly. It was then, with a sink in his stomach, he realized how fake their conversation was, at least on his end. It was obvious that their friendship had been too good to be true. For Sasori to, at the apex of his turmoil, be sent an angel who perfectly understood him, was too ideal a story. Things like that didn't happen in real life. Of course there would be a catch. The angel would befriend the demon, and then, when the demon struck, the angel would never open his eyes. Instead, the angel unknowingly aided the demon… until the bonds would all have to be broken. Their few weeks as friends had been so short by the calendar, but so long in the mind. And it would have to stop that way. This was the concept of passing and of death.

Sasori sighed, placing his head mournfully between his knees. Deidara spoke again, and the redhead tried to block it out, but found himself hopeless prey to the blonde's comely voice.

"I had a cousin… She was only one, un, when she died. I was six. We were at home alone with a babysitter, but when she wasn't looking, I took my cousin up into the tree house, and when I was carrying her up, I dropped her, and… un…"

The redhead looked up and noticed the grim veil of permanent guilt over the other student's features. "I know my cousin could never compare to your grandmother, and it's only a bit of your feelings that I can understand… But I want to be readily here for you, un, in case you need me."

Sasori kept his face flat, miserably hiding the fact that he would never be able to 'need' Deidara. Keeping his silence, the air became barbed with a painful, bitter sense of quiet. The puppeteer was lightly aware of the blonde shuffling slowly, and he felt two hands gingerly winding around his hunched frame. But as the sculptor made to hug him comfortingly, Sasori squirmed away and directed his burning, agonized look to the grave before him.

He heard a low, sharp intake of breath from the blonde, as if he'd been wounded, which, he supposed the boy was. As the taller awkwardly moved backwards and away, Sasori's heart sunk even deeper as he looked at Tsubaki Chiyo's final resting place again. He hugged his own small body tightly, and trying to not notice the long strands of golden hair in the corner of his vision, he wished that he could've let Deidara hold him close, at least, just that one time.

* * *

**A/N: **Oh god, where the hell did all that HiDei come from. D: Oh god, where the hell. I'm so sorry, HiDei haters, and for HiDei lovers, well, jackpot? But I have no idea where that crap got spawned. Xox" Thank you so much for reviewing my story in the past! I really hope it's a continuing habit, my loves. :3


	8. Abandon

**A/N: **.....owo" Well, it's been five, long months and-- (-eaten alive-) DX DX DX SORRY SORRY SORRY. I hate myself for this, I really do. And if you're still reading this-- ARGH I DON'T DESERVE YOUR LOVE. XoX Thank you so much for being patient, and always loyal. ;A; I love you all for putting up with me! I really, really do. Please don't hurt me. OTL  
BUT I MADE A DISCOVERY 8D I can't write long-ass chapters, or force myself to! And I have to write while listening to the D. Gray -Man OST! :D  
....yes, it was D. Gray -Man. ;A; BLAME TYKI'S SEXY ASS, DAMMIT. -mental breakdown-

**Credits: **I own nothing. As in, Naruto shits go to Masashi Kishimoto, and my life goes to those of you willing to spare it. TToTT -hands out love-

* * *

**Chapter Seven**

Sasori hissed as the peroxide stung his flesh, dark shades of bubbles growing out of his various wounds. He, lost in his emotional conflict, hadn't had time to realize that his entire body was pocked with unsettlingly hued cuts, probably collected over the past week. What with his and Deidara's relationship suddenly falling further and further apart, he wouldn't have even noticed the gashes if it weren't for Orochimaru, kindly breaking the skin again last night in a bout of extreme sadism.

As the bathroom door opened, he saw Hidan entering, armed with a shower bag of his hair accessories. The albino blinked sleepy violet eyes and took his place at his regular sink, before the heavy reek of peroxide even reached his nostrils. "Whoa!" He exclaimed in alarm, woken by the strong scent. He stared at Sasori's scarred arms and hands, obviously impressed. "Converting?" He asked pleasantly.

The redhead frowned, rolling a Q-tip over a particularly bloody gash. (It was from smacking head-on into the dorm's brick wall, he remembered.) "Hell no," he answered back coolly, tossing the dirtied stick into the trash can.

"Hmph. Fuck you, then," Hidan grumbled, drenching his head with sink water. "Your loss, Red. You're gonna get hit by lightning for injury without worship. See if I care."

Sasori smiled crookedly at his friend's grim prognosis. This was possibly the best thing about Hidan. No matter what the situation, the Jashinist was consistently annoying, and therefore a reliable source of comfort. He seemed too addle-brained to really absorb anything, but actually did pick emotions up quite well. Thankfully though, he was uncaring enough to show no concern, which suited Sasori perfectly.

"So," Hidan continued, shaking out his saturated mane. "What's with all the hacking?"

The redhead cocked his head, contemplating. "…I don't know. I just picked them up recently."

"Self-inflicted?" He asked casually, tossing an attentive glare at the shorter teen.

Sasori glowered back at Hidan, pulling out another Q-tip. "Look, I'm not cutting myself, and certainly not for Jashin. Is that clear?"

The albino groaned in defeat. "Fine. Don't blame me when Jashin damns you, fuckin' heathen." Suddenly, his eyes widened in horror, his mouth opening as well, clearly remembering something he didn't want to.

"What?" Sasori asked, jolted by his friend's apparent distress.

"Shit! Oh, shit, shit, shit, fuckin' _shit_!" He exclaimed, cradling his white head.

"Hidan," the redhead snapped, dropping his new Q-tip. "What the hell's going on?"

"Man, we forgot to use a fucking condom yesterday!" The zealot groaned, terror evident on his face.

"I thought Kakuzu was your first," Sasori ventured warily. "So it shouldn't matter, right?"

"Yeah, but I'm not him!" As Hidan hurtled to the door, he smacked into Deidara, who was entering with a shower bag of his own. "Move, Blondie, I think I have AIDS!"

The blonde stared at him, his mouth pressed into a thin line. "You didn't use a condom last night, did you?" The albino simply shoved past him, yowling. "Hidan, it's one thing to not abstain, but completely another to not use _protection_, un!"

His reward was a shout of unison from both Hidan and Kakuzu. "Shut the fuck up!"

Wounded, Deidara stepped fully into the bathroom, looking around him when he smelled the peroxide. "What's that—" he froze when he saw the source, his blue eye wide. A blush, to his horror, spread over both their faces, and then Sasori stiffly turned back to the sink, pouring another drop of peroxide onto a cotton swab.

But apparently, the 'drop' was too much, because when he pressed the ball to his elbow cut, he let out an audible groan of pain.

Deidara ran to the redhead's side, gently taking the battered arm. To his relief, the shorter didn't try to break away. "Oh, Kami… What happened, Sasori, un?"

"I don't know," he answered uncomfortably. The boy was clearly unwilling to have the blonde help him, but he still didn't pull away.

The transfer student probed the edges of each wound gently, glancing nervously at the crimson eyes every time he thought he'd pressed too hard. After some time, he saw Sasori reach his free hand to the overfilled cotton swab, dropped and forgotten on the floor.

"Don't use that, un!" He warned, quickly stopping the pale hand in midair. "It's been on the floor. And besides, you have enough swabs already, un." Still holding the smaller hand, he rummaged in his bag, finding the tube of Neosporin.

"Deidara," the redhead began, voice stiff in discomfort. "I don't need your help." He watched as the blonde carefully spread the clear substance over his wounds, fully concentrated on his task.

"I know, un. But it must be hard to heal an arm with _another_ wounded arm."

"Deidara," Sasori repeated. Just then, the bathroom door squeaked open, and the smaller boy quickly tore his arm from the blonde's. "_Deidara_!" He spun around to face whoever was at the door, but to both their surprises, there was no one. The redhead slowly returned his gaze to the Iwa student.

Deidara was biting his lower lip in anxiety, azure eye desperately searching scarlet. "You don't have to be independent," he whispered softly, taking in Sasori's perfect face, only marred by the distress on his expression.

The smaller boy let out a short exhale, then muttered, "I'll see you at Theatre." Sweeping up his peroxide and Q-tips, he quickly exited the bathroom, not sparing the blonde another glance.

**--xoxoxo--**

"Hey, Deidara!" called the theatre instructor to him. The blonde turned to face the woman, his azure eye lidded with disappointment. "You made it onto he cast list, but since we had several try for the part of the fairy, you're the understudy. Is that okay?"

The new student nodded in agreement, brushing a stray loop of golden hair behind an ear. "Thanks, Kurenai-sensei, un." Walking onto the stage, he was careful this time, to sit a distance from the sullen Sasori.

As the rest of the class received their results, he crossed his legs on the floor, playing with the hem of his frayed belt. He sat there, trying to absorb this information. He'd just lost the role he was trying out for. That had never happened before. Deidara knew he should've been disappointed by himself, but he couldn't seem to muster much emotion about it. All he could think of was how Sasori had grown even more distant overnight. They'd been drawing apart for a full three weeks now, and it just became more painful as it dragged on.

Every moment of the first, happy weeks were being eaten away. In fact, that morning was the first time they'd spoken in quite a while. Even during chemistry and especially theatre, Sasori had moved far away, completely ignoring him.

Deidara supposed it was finally time to take Hidan up on his offer to talk to the redhead. From what he'd seen in the bathroom, Sasori was able to at least stay in the same room as the albino without spontaneously combusting. The Jashinist definitely had a better chance of getting some sense out of him.

Then, a shout of fury broke out from the opposite side of the stage. Two of the more obnoxious students- both puppeteers- were standing up, pointing angrily at one another.

Kurenai interjected quickly, frustration clear in her ruby eyes. "Gentlemen, what's the problem?"

One of them, Keitaro, jabbed his index finger in rage at the other, Oda. "He thinks he has a right to tell me which puppets I'm in charge of."

Oda scoffed, his loud voice echoing in the large theatre. "My judgment's always been right. You shouldn't be able to control the Pinocchio puppet, you'd fuck that up easily!"

"Neither of you are doing Pinocchio's puppet," came Sasori's voice, dry and ill-tempered, "I am."

Keitaro spluttered at the shorter boy, wringing his arms in disagreement. "But I've never been able to—"

"Get experience first, you ass," the redhead snapped irritably from his seat on the floor.

Kurenai looked as if she were about to reprimand him, but a dark cloud of pity came over her eyes, and she merely placed a hand lightly on his shoulder.

Deidara watched the bickering curiously, his gaze fixed on the irate Suna native. Sasori had won his argument fairly quickly, and he had to admit that this was a side of the boy he never wanted to meet head on. He guessed that he would've gotten this outburst several times, if it weren't for the redhead running off before he could explode. A stupid moment of hope filled him, with the tantalizing vision of the other student only running away to protect Deidara from his anger. But it was a stupid and clichéd romance idea, and the blonde knew that sort of self-sacrifice only happened to the despicably fortunate.

As Oda and Keitaro began a fresh battle, now over who got to control Pinocchio's wooden companions, Deidara rolled his eyes. They were almost certainly having a lover's quarrel.

"Gentlemen!" Kurenai barked, smacking both her charges' heads with her clipboard. "Since Sasori got a full-ride scholarship to this school on his puppet work alone, I'm leaving him in charge now. What he says goes, so shut up all of you puppeteers, and pay attention to your new captain!"

A new wave of arguments rolled over the teacher, and she could only groan to herself, and shout, "I said, _all of you shut up_!" Waned by her scream, even the actors hushed their mocking comments, and all stared expectantly at their instructor.

Slightly calmed by the quiet, Kurenai sighed, and then tucked a pencil behind her ear. "Thank you. Now, with _no arguments_, puppeteers listen to Sasori, or I will not hesitate to give you the job of unrolling backdrops. I'm going to work with the actors now, and I don't want to hear any raised voices from you people."

Thoroughly annoyed, she strode to Deidara's subdued end of the stage, shuffling her script copy busily. "Okay. With more maturity, let's do another read-through. Deidara, you'll have to read the fairy's part today… I'm afraid Taku's not here today."

The blonde nodded in assent, and as the first act began, he jumped straight to the third act, marking his parts.

While the remainder of the actors recited the script, he idly flipped the corners of his papers, staring longingly into space. He heard a loud clacking behind him, and turned to see the much smaller team of puppeteers, trying to untangle a mass of half-finished puppets as quietly as possible.

A smile lifted the corners of his lips as he saw Sasori in the thick of the mess, a scowl on his porcelain expression as a girl was hastily trying to untie him from a bunch of the wires. Noticing the spark in his chest, Deidara wondered if that crush still existed. But of course it did. How could one not fall for Sasori? The only thing the blonde could take solace in, was that he still valued their friendship far above romances. He didn't even _know _he'd liked other boys before he came here, so he'd appreciated the notion of a simple friendship.

The same, fluttering feeling came when the scarlet eyes quickly flickered to his own sapphire, but ashamedly, the orbs moved to the rafters above. The blonde's smile faded miserably, and he went back to his script, reading along. It was definitely high time he employed Hidan to talk to Sasori for him.

After about three more lines, the clanking grew in volume, until Deidara looked up from his papers to the other side of the stage, recognizing a familiar silhouette. Squinting, he blinked in shock. The puppeteering crew had failed pathetically at freeing Sasori, who now stood, wound up in at least three figurettes' strings. The scowl on his lips had deepened, and his crimson irises smouldered in impatience and annoyance. By the way the boy was violently biting down on his lower lip, it was clear that he was holding back a few colourful insults.

Deidara blanched as the aggravating flutter reappeared, and he was seized by a great urge to wipe the ugly anger off of Sasori's perfect face, by giving him a long, soft kiss. The blonde pulled away from the tangled figure that was the redhead, disgusted by himself. This was the second time he'd ever gotten any urge to make romantic advances.

The first had been at the homecoming dance with his pottery teacher's pretty daughter. He'd wanted to ask her to slow dance with him, and effectively lost to his cowardice.

And now—he wanted to kiss Sasori. The jump from slow dancing at a social gathering, to kissing someone in the middle of class—startled him.

But there was so plainly something there he could feel, as he watched Sasori lift up his arms while Oda sympathetically unwound a coil of strings. He couldn't place it as anything more than a crush, and while there was still something more to the feeling, he couldn't pick it out well enough from the stereotypical behavior of a simple admiring. But seeing the boy flick his head naturally in order to move a bothering lock of red hair, he knew it was there, that unnamed feeling.

**--xoxoxo--**

After theatre, Deidara had to bolt outside to quickly call the Jashinist. After three failed attempts to reach him (which the blonde sincerely hoped were just because he was in a lecture or something), Hidan finally picked up.

"He—hello?" He panted loudly into the receiver. Deidara cursed his bad luck fervently. Didn't those two have _classes_ or something to be attending, instead of doing each other every turn they got?

"Hidan," the sculptor began hurriedly has he carefully filtered the crowd for red hair, "I need a favor from you, un."

"Condom?" The zealot asked suggestively.

"Fuck, no!" Deidara spat, rolling his eyes. "Speaking of, are y still clean since last night?"

"Yeah, so Kuzu and I are fuckin' _partying_, Blondie." Oh.

"Good for—"

"Yeah! This is the _shit_, man."

"Hidan, un! I have a favor not involving sex."

There was a silence on the other end. "Keep going…"

"Can you talk to Sasori for me? He really, extremely and excessively hates me, un."

"What'd you do, rape the—"

"_No. Sex._" The blonde reminded his friend firmly.  
A grumble of childish complaint came from the other end. "Fine. Asshole. What d'you want me to talk to him 'bout?"

"Can you ask him about what's wrong? Not flat out, un, but try to get it out of him. And why does he hate me, too. Because I _really_ can't figure that one out, un."

"Oh—why hello, sexy." The albino's voice purred, now directed away from the speaker. Deidara felt his lip curl slightly in disgust, as a loud moan sounded in his earpiece. The only thing that kept his thumb quivering, but still suspended above the 'End Call' button, was Sasori's face.

Hidan returned to the phone rapidly. "Sure, I'll do it. I'll report to y sometime today. See ya, got to go." There was an obnoxious giggle, and then he hung up on Deidara.

The blonde sighed, wondering what he'd done to deserve a companion like Hidan.

**--xoxoxo--**

As Sasori walked to the dorm building, passing the science hall, he saw a flash of silver. Suspicious, he hesitantly inched further, not sure what to expect. He was grateful that no one was using this route at the moment to see him sneaking about like a murderer. Enough of the other students already figured he was a paranoid psycho of a freshman anyhow. Slinking cautiously past the closest building's wall, he peered at the nearest bus stop stand. Lurking there was Hidan, as he'd suspected.

What he hadn't anticipated though, was for the albino to lunge forward and cover his mouth. Sasori's eyes widened in shock, hands flying up to the paler one, trying to move it from his face.

"Shh!" Hidan hissed, looking around him as if he were a spy agent.

The redhead glowered at the taller boy, eventually peeling enough of the smothering hand off his lips to snap, "What're you doing, you bastard?"

Hidan clutched the thin shoulders demandingly. "Interrogation time! What's your damn credit card number?" When the victim only stared at him in belittling scorn, the Jashinist released him in defeat. "Fuck you, Red. But anyhow, if you won't get me your Visa, then I'll just have to settle for this." With one quick sweep of his arm, he ushered Sasori into the bus stand, ignoring the threats and complaints.

Firmly sat down onto one of the benches across from the albino, the redhead stared up at his captor in disdain. "What do you want?"

"What do _you_ want?" The zealot countered back. When Sasori could only look on in confusion, Hidan groaned, rolling his amethyst orbs. "With Deidara," he elaborated, using the student's name to study the redhead's reaction. Finding nothing in the flat expression, he sighed. "I want to know what the fuck's up between you two."

"Nothing is," Sasori responded tersely.

When the albino opened his jaw to snap at him for the real answer, he slowly reclosed it, realizing that the boy was telling the truth. "But—but—didn't you used to do all sorts of shit together for the first few weeks? He was the only one you opened up to, and he met him in three fuckin' days!"

"Until he got himself associated with the wrong group," the redhead hissed vehemently.

Hidan's lips closed into a firm, thin line, and he straightened his back. "Is that it, then?" He asked, his voice unusually quiet. "Is that it?" His volume increased as he stood up, and he began to pace in front of the sitting boy. "You're going to drop every sentence you shared with Blondie, every touch, _everything_, because you're fucking _associating _him with somebody? Load of _bullshit!_ Fucking _bullshit_!"

Undaunted, Sasori glared challengingly up at the taller student. "Do you even know what you're talking about?"

"I don't know exactly what this is, but I _do_ know that you can't just drop Deidara if you don't like who he hangs out with!"

"This is _Orochimaru_ we're talking about," the redhead burst, his temper frayed quickly at the zealot's words.

"Should it even fuckin' _matter_?" Hidan questioned, his pacing slowing down as he tried to get some sense out of their fiery conversation.

Sasori bit down on his lower lip hard, attempting to keep his own calm. "You have no idea," he seethed, "how fucked up that man is. He's already poisoned Deidara."

At this, the albino's face lit up, apparently having found something he'd been searching for. "So this is all to save Blondie?"

"What?" The puppeteer stood up from the bench, deciding that he'd had his fill of this topic. "No, what gave you that impression? He'll be no better than Orochimaru, if he continues to be his friend."

"Shit!" Hidan roared, storming after the redhead with a blinded rage. "How could you judge him like that? Blondie was the first person you ever opened up to that quickly and now you're just giving up on him? Fuck that, you ass!"

Sasori scoffed at this, walking out of the bus stop completely unfazed. "Of course."

"What the hell's that s'posed to mean?" The albino shouted unnecessarily, grabbing the other boy's slender arm roughly. "What's wrong with Blondie? You can't _give up_ on him!" But the redhead had more than enough.

He forcefully tugged himself free, and turned around to face the furious Jashinist. "Maybe not, but until he himself can realize that snake for what he really is, then he's just as low." Glaring away any argument, the shorter spun on his heel sharply, and then coldly continued on his path back to the dorm. As he strode away in the brusque, breathy wind of early spring, behind him, he could hear the smash of a fist against Plexiglas, and Hidan's fading mutters of distress and rage.

Closing his eyes briefly, he exhaled the remnants of shouting in his lungs, and walked on. As soon as he got back to the dorm, he fully intended to speak with Itachi. He knew his friend's general schedule fairly well by now, and if the past proved consistent, the raven-haired student still had his breaks at the same time as Sasori.

As he approached the plain building, he felt his stomach constricting itself uncomfortably, clenching and unclenching without will. He knew this sensation well—overloaded stress. He also knew exactly the source of it—that goddamn predator in his room. What with Orochimaru's repulsive actions, Sasori had lost all former sense of respect for himself. True, he'd clung to just enough to plaster over his exterior shell in order to let outsiders think he still had dignity, but in reality, all his pride was practically sucked hollow now.

The forced sex had deteriorated his schoolwork as well—the redhead had never been made to live in the library, and when it got reserved for campus groups, then he was left no option but to stay in his own room during the late hours, becoming exposed to his predator. With not much more time to study and complete late reports, Sasori had actually taken to staying in the room and studying at his desk, while Orochimaru lazily watched him from the bed. That was the worst part, he knew. After the snake finished with him, he was always a hopeless mess, so for the sake of his final scraps of self-esteem, he couldn't take shelter in his friend's rooms. Whenever he had to work then, he would be hunched at his desk, trying desperately to focus on the blurred words between helpless shaking.

As a result of his melancholy self-diagnosis of his stress' source, when he arrived at Itachi's door, it was no shock to himself then, when he had to quickly compose his air of calm again.

Kisame was the one who answered his knocks, with his large, surprisingly friendly grin. "Hey, Red," he greeted amiably, letting the much shorter boy in. For some reason, hearing the same nickname coming from Kisame's mouth was much less annoying than from Hidan's, although this may have been because, quite simply, everything from that idiot's mouth came off as mind-numbing prattle.

"Kisame," he acknowledged respectfully. "Is Itachi here?"

"Yeah, he's in the bathroom, washing out his contacts," the shark-like student informed his guest. "Want a fish cake?" He invited him in with one of the seafood desserts, gesturing that Sasori was also free to sit down.

"No, thanks," he declined, starting to fidget as he anxiously waited for the Uchiha's return.

This nervousness did not go unnoticed by the taller boy. "Hey, are you okay?" the maternal shark asked in concern.

"What? Oh…" the redhead frowned at his betrayed feelings. It was bad enough that he was about to confide in an emotionless statue who passed himself off as a human being—he didn't need said statue's roommate worrying about him, too. "Why wouldn't I be?" He shot in return, applying his sardonic manner and cocking his head arrogantly.

Laughing as this much more familiar Sasori reappeared, the bluish man smiled widely, sitting back down at his desk, propping open a textbook.

To both their relief, Itachi entered the dorm room then, blinking rapidly as he attempted to move his contacts into place. "Sasori--" he spoke in surprise, seeing the prideful boy in his room, bearing a look he'd long ago grown to recognize as his friend's masked need for help. Instantly taking matters into action, the Uchiha beckoned to the hallway. "I need to speak to you anyways," he made up, casting a swift glance at his roommate's turned back.

Nodding shortly in thanks, the redhead followed his friend back out of the room, feeling somewhat more secure now that he was with someone who would listen to him with a closed mouth and an unbiased ear. "Ja ne, Kisame," he called back to the shark before closing the door after his exit.

"Let's go outdoors," Itachi suggested, gesturing to the elevator door. The two proceeded to the outside of the dorm building with no further conversation, keeping their agreement of silence intact, until the lobby door swung to a final halt, and the two students were well back on the sidewalk pavement.

"So," the raven-haired boy began. "What's wrong?"

"What do you do when someone… _God_."

"Don't give me a prelude," Itachi ordered, walking to no destination in particular.

"Deidara," the redhead groaned, staring up at the constantly grayed skies in exasperation. "Deidara. He's been a great friend. But… the people he hangs out with, they're… I _really_ don't like them."

"In what way do you dislike them?" the Uchiha asked, not unkindly.

"Orochimaru." Sasori spat the name, "He's a sick bastard, but Deidara continues to leech onto him."

"So you want to let him know that Orochimaru's not the person he's believed to be?"

"He's already made up his mind," the shorter of the two scoffed.

"Are you going to give up on him, then?"

The redhead looked at Itachi, his crimson eyes narrowed. "What do you mean?"

"Are you going to sever ties with him?"

"Well, as long as he talks to Orochimaru, I'm not going near him—"

"Then you've already made up your mind," the raven-haired student affirmed quickly, cutting off his friend's protests.

"What are you _saying_?" Sasori snarled, anticipating the same sermon he'd gotten from Hidan.

"You've already abandoned Deidara to find out for himself, so you should forget about mending ties now."

The breath suddenly depleted from the redhead's chest, as he stared at Itachi in stunned silence. His heart struggled weakly against his ribcage as he felt the other boy's words smothering him. "Wha—" Blinking furiously, he straightened up. "That's bullshit— I wouldn't _abandon_ Deidara—I just—just…" He faltered, realizing what he'd been about to say. _'I just won't associate myself with him.'_

Face filled with a doleful triumph, the Uchiha nodded. "You've already given up on him, Sasori. The only reason you came out here with me, was to make yourself feel like you were doing something about all this."

"But Deidara--"

"Talk to me again when you truly want your friend back," Itachi told the gaping redhead. Giving his defeated comrade one, final look of something similar to pity, he walked back to the dorm building, his business completed.

"Itachi—what the hell—" gasped the Suna boy.

With the patience of an experienced professor, the taller student explained softly, "I'm not going to sugarcoat things for you, Sasori. You've given up on Deidara, and if you really want him as a friend again, you're going to have to talk to him about this yourself." Having relayed his message, the boy walked away with no further speech, leaving a mournful sense of brutal honesty in his wake.

Staring in weak indignation after the other male, Sasori took in shallow breaths as the cold truth wrapped itself around him. Suffocating… stifling… drowning.

He _had_ given up on Deidara.

* * *

**A/N: **So I think I owe you all an explanation. A serious one. (I didn't want to turn anyone off at the start of the long-needed update. xD) The past few months have been... hellish, to say the least. If you remember the Christian friend, well, she really got on my case for... this stuff, really. Stories about gay people with swearing galore. And the porn. Don't forget the porn. So for such a long time, I actually started getting _confused_ about it all- if what I'm doing is right or wrong. I got muse blockage, and for a week, I couldn't think about homosexuality whatsoever. It was... scarring. I could only draw het couples, think about them, whatever. It scared the shit out of me, to suddenly have half my life missing. Because, fanfiction _is_ my life right now and all. After that, I slowly rejoined the gay community, but it was still weird, to think that there was another side of me that the Christian had awakened. So I decided to put Lightning aside for a while- not on a hiatus- just a getaway of sorts. Then, I found D. Gray -Man, and... hahaa, wow, that was a shock. I'd liked the DGM fandom since last year, but hadn't really gotten into it. But then, I started watching the whole series with urging from my Japanese friend, I saw the total Christianity, mixed right in with the pairings. They actually had _yaoi and yuri fanservice_ in one of the omakes. That was amazing. So admittedly, probably none of the creators of DGM were Christian at all. But it gave a humorous side to the whole situation that my Christian friend had been showing me, and I dabbled in the DGM fandom. That whole discovery helped me to kickstart my fanfiction muse back in gear, and now, I think I'm ready to service you all again. :) Side affects may include severe DGM obsession and rantings.

Aisheteru.


	9. Lightning

**A/N: **This has been done for a while. But I neglected to post it. 8| So here you go. Argh. Anddd I am renaming my chapters. xD So there's going to be. Ah, 21 chapters. FRICK ON A STICK. I've also decided to dramatically shorten the chapters, and smush them together. Everything's extremely uncertain about this story, so... I mean, don't hold me to anything. Sorry for my absence... ah, enjoy? D:  
And- the chapter number thing bugs the hell out of me, but my computer ate all my files, so I'm not even going to bother trying to reupload everything. FML. D:

**Credits: **Don't own, don't want. ;~;

* * *

**Chapter Eight**

Deidara was sick of it. He was done with not knowing why his friend hated him, done with being completely oblivious of the entire situation. Since Hidan could do nothing about the matter, the Iwa transfer student realized that it would only make sense for he himself, to be the one to talk to the redhead. However, unless he sought a third party to balance out the tension when they spoke, Sasori would probably only repeat what had happened last time, which, of course, hadn't been quite as productive as desired

The person he wanted to accompany him was Orochimaru. The Oto student resonated a peaceful, wise air, and could help to set the pacification of the scene. When asked, he had unquestioningly agreed, knowing that the difficulties between Deidara and Sasori were strained.

"I asked Kin where he is, un," the college student revealed to his new teammate as they proceeded through the slowly darkening campus in nightfall, "And she said he's in the workshop, taking his frustration out on a block of wood."

Hearing this, Orochimaru lifted a thin, black brow in amusement. "Well, do be careful, Deidara-kun. If he really is as pissed as you say he is, he may divert his anger onto you."

The blond flushed at this, shuffling onward. "Yeah... I really hope not though... un."

As they made their way into the Arts building, the angry sound of wood slicing could already be heard from one of the first rooms in the main corridor. The Iwa-native recognized the source of the noise as the workshop where Sasori had showed him his parents' puppets, and so was certain that his friend was in there.

Getting nervous, Deidara beckoned Orochimaru forward, wanting his strong presence right beside him when he confronted the Suna student. He carefully opened the door, holding his breath as the redhead inside froze, the sound of cleaving material halting just as quickly.

The boy was sitting at a table in the far corner, surrounded by a pile of thin wood shavings and various carving utensils. "What the hell?" He growled hostilely, standing up from his stool with an alarming speed.

"Sasori-san, I just want to talk--"

"What's he doing here with you?" The shorter demanded, jabbing a dangerously glinting blade at the black-haired man standing dutifully behind Deidara.

The Iwa boy blanched, his visible eye widening. "Pl-- please don't point that at him, un," he stammered, wondering just how violent the Suna could get. "I just want to say sorry for whatever I might've done to you. I didn't mean to hurt you, I hope you know--"

"Get out of my sight," the puppeteer threatened with his knife, now picking up a sharpened block of wood as well. "I don't want to hear anything you've got to say. Not with that filth lurking in the background."

Deidara looked at Orochimaru for either help or an explanation (preferably both), but was rewarded with nothing more than an innocent shrug. Apparently though, this was a terrible move on his part, as there came a strangled scream of rage from the opposite end of the room.

"Get out!" Sasori's hysterical order was followed by the crack of wood on slate.

The blond looked in terror to his side - the block the redhead had been wielding lay prone on the tiled floor, a thin layer of dust coating one side of it from where it had been thrown at the dirty chalk board. "Sasori-san--"

"The next one is my knife, and I'm going to aim a little better, I promise. Get. Out."

Deidara would've stayed where he was and tried to talk sense to his former friend, but for a cold hand on his wrist, pulling him quickly away. "He's serious," Orochimaru warned him, tugging the unwilling transfer student out of the workshop with a sense of urgency.

"Damn right I am, fucking snake!" Sasori bellowed loudly after their retreat. Just before the door fell shut, they could hear the promised knife, clattering harmlessly alongside the wood block.

The blond could only stare in numbed shock at the closed port, his azure eye dilated in horror. "...What did you do to make him hate you so much?"

Orochimaru grimaced, starting to walk away. "I don't quite know," he answered sadly. "Anyhow, I'm sorry about your apology not working."

"Nah, I can't blame you," Deidara forgave, proceeding after the taller male on their way back to their dorm building. "It's probably me, more than anything else..."

Though the reptilian man sighed softly in sympathy, he said nothing to clear the blond's self-accusations.

--xoxoxo--

Night had given him no reprieve from his worries, and well into the early morning, Deidara was still rolling from side to side of the miniscule dorm bed. He rewound the happenings in the workshop room, mulling over every spare millimeter of Sasori's outraged expression, trying to dissect each movement of the boy's face. Certainly he'd detected fear more than once in the scarlet eyes...

A loud snort from Tobi in the bed beside him alarmed him then, and he blanched, staring at the boy across the room. Finding sleep was impossible, he decided, and groaning in frustration at everything, the blond kicked his legs over the side of the mattress, getting up.

He left his dorm room silently, seeking a clear thought in the bathroom.

Inside the restroom though, the utter peace was marred by the annoying buzz of cheap lighting and the water heater growling under his feet. Deidara stood prone, leaning against the sinks for a moment, but promptly forgot why he was so upset; his thoughts flew everywhere and nowhere, and sometime during that minute, his brain must've imploded.

"Screw this, un," he swore tot he unlistening quiet. Pushing himself off the wall, the blond walked to the bathroom door and gave up his search for lucidity. Maybe he could fall down on his bed, hit his skull on the headboard, and knock himself out. Hopefully.

But as soon as he exited the lavatory and stepped into the narrow hallway, he was seized by an inexplicable urge. Who said it needed to make sense? It was college - he himself had said to be spontaneous...

"Sasori-san..." He murmured, quickly stepping toward the end of the hallway where the redhead's room was. He had to do this-- even if it meant disturbing the other student from sleep or studies.

Standing in front of the door with a nervously pattering heartbeat, the blond lifted a fist to knock at his friend's port, but halted as soon as he raised his hand. He was scared of what would happen; would he knock and get turned away? Rejection wasn't something he could even allow to rear its ugly head - not when he knew so clearly what it was he had to say. So with the utmost authority and self-composure, Deidara pulled the knob handle and let himself into the dorm room, prepared to scream Sasori awake in order to talk.

What he found inside though, was anything but the quiet he'd anticipated. The first, foremost thing he registered under the hallway's weakly streaming light, was that a figure was draped unspeakably over one of the beds. Deidara blanched away, lowering his gaze as a terrible blush darkened his features. Why the hell wasn't the door locked? "So-- Sorry, un," he gasped, falling over himself in his attempts to back out.

He made the mistake of looking back though, whether by guidance of fate or sheer stupidity, it was hard to tell. The face that glared back at him from the bed was none other than Orochimaru. "Shit," he cringed, shrinking under the snake-like man's withering look. Just like that, he'd quite essentially lost another friend.

But then, as if the situation was determined to mortify him into oblivion, a mop of red caught his eye. Flinching, Deidara finally noticed another body on the bed, which had been almost completely covered by Orochimaru's considerably larger frame; Sasori.

"F- Fuck," the blond whimpered, cursing his instinct for telling him to barge in on another college student's dorm room in the middle of the night. Hadn't he learned anything from Kakuzu and Hidan?

As he stood transfixed in stupefied horror though, the minute details began to pronounce themselves. Sasori's face didn't appear angry at all- in fact, rather the opposite.

Distinct tear trails were streaking down the Suna's visage, though by the gleam of the dim hallway lighting, Deidara could see that the crying had subsided, already beginning to dry off. That didn't take away from the redhead's face of utter anguish though, and he trembled at the scene, only just starting to compute the full nightmare laid out in front of him. "Oh... god..."

A sick, nauseous anger rose in his chest, and not even completely aware of his own actions, the blond lunged forward, fury in his azure eyes. "Get the fuck off of him, un!" He roared, forgetting the volume of his own voice as he desperately started toward the bed.

Orochimaru didn't bother with a fight though, simply disentangling himself from his victim and sitting back, unashamed and disturbingly calm. "Take him," he smirked, gesturing the the exposed, obviously wary Sasori in front of him, as if daring anyone to snatch the prize from his unsprung claws.

Deidara cringed again, suddenly self-conscious under the redhead's angry gaze. He shakily tore the bedsheets from the unoccupied cot, and in a manner demanding no opposition, swathed the cloth around Sasori's shoulders, and helped the boy to his feet. "Let's go, un," he advised quietly, careful to avoid the snake-like man's eyes. When the redhead leaned heavily into him though, Deidara sighed, realizing what the impact of what had happened to the Suna student, and kindly swung one thin arm around his neck, helping the shorter male out of the haunting dorm room, without another look at Orochimaru. There was so much to be said between them, but absolutely no way either was willing to bring it up first.

The blond started to stagger toward his own room, but Sasori denied this with a low hiss. He broke away from Deidara, wrapping the blanket tighter around himself as if bandaging his broken pride, and stumbled toward the stairs, a determined glower on his face.

"Wait... Sasori-san, un--" The Iwa-native watched helplessly as his friend pushed his way past the heavy metal door, and slowly proceeded down the four flights. "Where the hell is the punk going," the blond growled in annoyance to himself, finding it irritatingly possible to be exasperated with the stubborn Sasori, even in his current situation.

He desperately followed the limping redhead down the four staircases, calling out to the Suna-student between breaths in hopes that he would be allowed to at least walk next to the proud boy. "Sasori-san, seriously I think you should slow down. If you trip and fall, un--"

"I'll thank you not to be my mother, brat," the smaller male snapped back irritably, though even this threatening voice brought assurance to Deidara that his presence was permitted.

Finally, the redhead made it outside the dorm building and into the freezing thunderstorm, an immensely concerned Deidara just on his heels. Shivering as the pouring liquid already set to drench him, the blond wrapped a firm arm around Sasori, flinching at the mere imagination of how being naked save for a few bedsheets must be faring on the thin body beside him. Seeing the faintly irked expression on the shorter boy's face appear, he decided to keep silent, counting his armhold as a quiet success.

The redhead seemed to have a strong idea of where he was going, so carefully, the sculptor kept close, attempting to provide both a sense of comfort and personal space fro his newly regained friend, which, under the circumstances, was rather difficult.

Sasori was struggling through his rain-blurred vision back to the garden, and as the two awkwardly walked on, Deidara could see that he was being led back to the thornbush, where, with a surge of warmth, he remembered their first, real encounter. Glancing down at the dogged look on the smaller's visage though, he morosely came to terms that after that ordeal with Orochimaru, the redhead would hardly be considering the first time he spoke to an Iwa brat about art.

It was this train of thought, that as the two crouched beneath the sour branches, inspired the blond to look up. Through the various twigs and pelting rain, he could see the rumbling, gray clouds, flashes of illumination darting out magnificently between their dark folds. "Oh... un," he faltered in awe, a bordering-manic grin breaking over his face at the sight of lightning. Filling the silence between he and Sasori, he gently nudged the smaller frame's shoulder, gesturing to the split sky in excited urgency. "Look. This is probably the most dangerous thing I've ever done, including that cornfield escapade: Run outside under a frigging bush in a lightning storm, but... isn't it beautiful, un?" He finished in a hoarse whisper that he might've used on a dying lover, quickly brushing away his golden fringe to take in the wonder with both eyes.

A furtive glance back to the Suna student told him that a hesitant smile was also on the redhead's, just temporarily blocking out the anger and shame. "It's alright," Sasori admitted, seemingly too tired to argue.

Taking pity on him by choosing to ignore the boy's rather apathetic description, Deidara asked, "So... does this mean I win, un?"

Crimson eyes locked onto blue, confusion hazing Sasori's visage. "...Win...?"

"'Member? Right here, ages ago, un, you challenged me to prove to you that fleeting art is better than eternal. And here, you just said lightning is 'alright'!" A teasing, light grin was dancing on Deidara's lips as he tore his vision from the sky to look his friend back in the eyes.

A familiar frown replaced itself on the redhead's expression, and he huffed, tilting his head. "Lightning doesn't even qualify as an art," he muttered, but his tone alone betrayed his relief. He'd never felt so comfortable around Deidara before, and in that one, brief moment of staring into azure, he'd actually forgotten about the recent events of that night... About Orochimaru, about everything that had ruined him. Still too mixed about his thoughts and emotions, the Suna kept his frown on - a safety device, almost - and shot back in his usual snaps, "I never said you'd win either."

To his surprise, Deidara playfully bumped shoulders, practically bowling him over as he was unexpected. "A challenge is too, something to win, un. And didn't we establish that art can be anything as long as it's an interpreted expression of the person who sees it?"

Sasori recalled no such establishment, but seeing the blond's ecstatic face as he gazed dreamily up at the charged clouds, struck something similar to benevolence in his chest. "Right," he grudging allowed, feeling like a pet-owner bullied into giving his puppy extra treats, even as he knew that Deidara was just doing all he could to distract both of them. "You win. Happy, brat?"

The taller student cackled, effectively tucking Orochimaru far from both their heads. As if to celebrate the start of an unmistakable trust's rebuilding, the sky shone a blinding blue-white, and rumbled its approval deep into the night.


End file.
